DBV Series 1: The UnNatural Saiyan
by Verto-Briefs
Summary: So, What do you want with me' I asked. Trunks scratched the back of his head, 'Well...You see...You're a Saiyan now, and you must leave this place. You will endanger your own world. We will send you to my father for training.' Complete
1. Prologue: Trunks' Search

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

"So Trunks, can you sense him around here?" Bulma asked.

"Yes mother, he's pretty close. Is it ok though if we just observe him for now? After all he's probably got a few days or so before anyone notices something different about him, unless he gets mad and kills someone or something," Trunks said, rubbing his purple hair.

"Yeah we probably should, I want to get a blood or hair sample, can you manage that?"

"No problem, are you sure this thing is going to work?" Trunks asked, fooling with the bracelet on his wrist.

"Now Trunks, when have my inventions ever not worked?" Bulma asked, shaking her finger.

"It's not that Mom, its just that the Frieza in this dimension has been on our tail ever since I cut off his arm. I'd rather he didn't catch us off a bit and blow up the planet while we're on it, that wouldn't be very productive," Trunks said.

"Good point, but yes I'm sure it will work. If my computer can't pick you up with that thing on, Frieza doesn't have a chance. Now that's enough out of you, go find this young man we are looking for!"

"Yes mother. I'll be back later once I locate him. His ki will be hard to pick up on since he isn't a fully developed Saiyan, but it shouldn't be too hard, I'll see ya later!"

"Good luck son!"

Trunks flew through the air over the general area he sensed the Saiyan's power. He had been trying to pick it up for two days now with very little success. Either the Saiyan already could use his power and could suppress it, or he just hadn't been physically or mentally irritated long enough to pinpoint. Trunks decided the latter was more likely, no one on this planet had a clue how to use their ki energy. _I wonder if this one will be a typical Saiyan like Dad or one more like Gohan and Goku._ He scanned the city below, picking up small traces of higher energy towards the north. He headed that way, passing over a highway and into the southern tips of a suburb. The closer he got to it, the stronger the energy signal felt, until he finally set his eyes upon a car dealership along another highway. _The Saiyan must be here, the signal is very strong_. Landing on the roof, he quickly looked around to make sure no one saw him. After Trunks determined no one did see him, he glanced over the south side of the building. A figure walked out, angry about something with a set of keys in his hand.

_That must be him, he has extremely high energy coming off him for a human_._Maybe it's a good thing that he can't use it yet._ Trunks examined the figure for a few moments. It was a human male, just shy of six feet in height with dark and rather wild and unkempt hair. He had to be young, maybe Trunks' age or a bit younger, twenty-one at the most. That was correct by what his mother had told him to expect. The boy was a bit on the large and overweight side, but by the looks of things the boy wasn't in bad shape either. The overweight body made sense, any Saiyan would be ravaging the kitchen almost daily and no doubt his human body didn't adapt right away. It looked like he was developing quite nicely regardless, like he used to be extremely overweight. Trunks guessed he had also lost a lot recently, he kept pulling up on his work pants to keep them up, a good sign of this. Trunks moved along the edge of the building, watching the boy walk down the lot. The boy came up to a large truck and got in to start it. Only it wouldn't start, frustrating the kid. He hopped out and ran inside quickly, emerging a few seconds later with a small battery pack. After hooking up the pack to the truck, the kid tried to start it again, no go. Out of options, the kid put the truck in neutral and got behind it. Then, surprisingly, the kid started to push the truck straight out of its spot and slowly towards the shop entrance. Had this been a small car and not on the upside of a hill, this wouldn't have surprised Trunks at all, but it wasn't such.

_Yep, that's the one all right_. After watching him push the truck inside, Trunks waited for the kid to reemerge, something that took a little while. A bit later Trunks sensed the boy's ki rise in anger again, like something was either frustrating or irritating to him. The kid walked out again, stomping a little bit but trying to contain it. He went by Trunks' position, fuming about the people he worked with. He wasn't really talking to anyone at all on the empty lot, just venting to the air. The kid picked up a rock or two and turned towards Trunks. Trunks ducked down fast enough not to be seen. Then the kid chucked the two rocks he had into the air. The boy obviously didn't know his own slowly increasing strength, because he was aiming for the rooftop. The rocks both curved over the roof and went into the distance and out of Trunks' sight. The kid must have thought he just hit the roof and they fell because he was not surprised at all. Then the kid walked over to the wall, and punched the wall very hard. Grumbling, the kid walked off holding his hand, and drove a car around to the front. Trunks jumped down and examined the wall that was hit. It now showed several cracks around the point of impact, and the area of the hit crumbled under Trunks' finger. He sighed and held up his wristwatch, pressing a small button on the side.

"I've found him Mom!"

"Excellent, can you bring him here then without causing too much of a ruckus? By my calculations the change will really get going in the next two days, so we really need to get him out of view," Bulma said through the communicator.

"That might be a problem, looks like he's at work right now, and since it's the morning hours he might be here all day. Be hard to get him outta here without disruption," Trunks said, looking around extra carefully.

"Where does he work?"

"Car dealership."

"Hmmm, I have an idea Trunks, how does a new car sound for a present?"

**Dragonball: Verto**

**Alternate Universe - obviously**

**My first series starts about 8 months before Buu in the DBZ timeline. If you haven't seen the DBZ series at all, you're in trouble and should not be on this site until you know what the hell you're reading about. At the end of each chapter I will throw out some power levels if they have relevance as there will probably be multiple enemies and fights, and some enemies fought won't necessarily need a high level. This is only something I do for fun, not to be politically correct by any means, so I don't want to hear about what they should or should not be. We start off with my character, which I will write from my point of view though I will switch from time to time back to 3rd person view.**

**Rated PG-13 for language and violence**

"blah"-**regular communication**

_Blah_-**thoughts**

"_blah_"-**telepathic or an outside source, though there isn't much of this here.**

**Some parts of this story are still in their original form, I've been going back through for editing time and time again. My writing skills have advanced ever since starting this story, so I felt the need to clean things up a bit. Some of the wording and dialogue may be a little different than before, but it will stay roughly the same.**


	2. Appearence and Revelation

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Saga 1: The Unnatural Saiyan**

**Chapter 1. Appearance and Revelation**

I began that first day as any other, barely making it to work due to lack of sleep. It wasn't that I didn't have enough time to sleep at night, I had just been so revved up lately after work, like I had just ran a few miles and it didn't even affect me. And for me, running a few miles isn't all that easy, or at least it didn't used to be. I slowly trudged into my work place, a car dealership just shy of 8:00 am. While I wasn't late, that didn't stop some co-workers from asking me if I was quitting tomorrow because I barely made it in. I really, really hated it when they said that. Problem was the boss, a real stickler about tardiness, one person was canned for being fifteen seconds late, or so I heard. My job duties were pretty simple, but could be boring if I ran out of stuff to do. I worked in the car service department and simply porter cars around. When they come in I throw plastic wrap in to keep grease off, then wash them after completion and bring it to the owner. Then keep the drive-in garage picked up for the most part. The problems came when no cars needed pulled around and none were coming in. I became the jack-of-all-trades in those times. Usually that's when I had to go clean crap off the doors and put away service files in order, not that I really cared about what job was done on everyone's piece of shit car. One of the worst things to do was cleaning out the smokers' ashtrays. While I didn't smoke and never planned on it, I had to dump them out. I started wearing gloves just to touch them, I was disgusted by them every time. Most of the smokers had the gall to tell me how disgusting they thought the ashtrays were. I always looked at them like they were crazy before moving on. It was their lungs they were poisoning, and if I could help it, I was staying away.

Today, unfortunately, was one of the slow days that dragged on. That morning was bad since absolutely no one came in. That meant if I got all the files put away and the doors clean, I had to empty the mechanic's trash bins. I hated those more than the ashtrays, at least I only had to wash my hands once to get the ash marks off, rather than the arms too. I had already punched the concrete wall once or twice today and it was only nine in the morning, not a good day already and I had eight hours to go. Shortly before that I was told to pull in a big van cause it needed to be worked on and the mechanic probably didn't feel like walking a little bit to do it himself. _Lazy asshole. _ When I got out there, it wouldn't start and the jumper pack did nothing at all. I knew I wouldn't find anyone to help me push it, so I said screw it and did it myself. It was a little heavy, but strangely wasn't that hard to push like it used to be. I had lost nearly eighty pounds in the last several months off nothing much other than changing my fluid intake to mostly water. I doubted that was the only reason, I had a rather painful reminder of my diet that lasted until the surgeons blasted it out. And really, the only reason I opted to push the damn truck myself was because the pushing machine was busted again. I'll give the prick technicians credit, they helped once it was inside.

Afterwards I tried to settle at my desk and read the newspaper. Just before I got up from my seat to clean off the service drive, I saw someone walking down the side of the lot out of a nearby cornfield. While it wasn't uncommon for someone to walk in the car lot, it was odd for someone to come from the field. As the person got closer, I started making out some interesting features. He looked to be about six foot four inches or so and built like a brick wall. He was bearing a dark purple jacket, black tank top and pants, cold blue eyes, and the oddest part, lavender hair. At first I thought it was dyed really well, but when he got closer I could see either he had a good hair stylist, or it was naturally that way. I wagered the latter since I could not see any different strands of color. He slowly walked up to the open garage and strolled in. He laid his cold eyes on me immediately and never took them off as he walked up to my desk and proceeded in having a stare off with me. Neither smiling nor frowning and looked me up and down.

"Can I help you, sir?" I asked, a little nervous under his stare. It felt odd staring at him, I usually wasn't scared of anyone regardless of size, but he pulled it off.

"Not right now, maybe later," he said in a bone chilling voice. He took one last look, and then started past me and proceeded inside. Watching him leave, I realized he looked kind of familiar. While I swore up and down I had seen him somewhere before, I knew I hadn't, or at least not that I remembered. Turning back to look the other way, I saw the boss glaring at me from the window. _Oh great, trash can time again_, I thought.

Instead the P.A. come on, "DAVE THOMAS, COME TO THE CASHIER WINDOW PLEASE!" _Why do they always have to announce my full name like that? _That was my cue to pull a car around. I walked in to get the keys and surprisingly the purple haired guy was standing there pulling out some serious money and handed it to the cashier. A salesman by the name of Paul was babbling the usual sales stuff to him about where to go for service and such.

"Thank you Mister, uh, Briefs for purchasing your first car here. This is one of the finest dealerships in our whole state! So are you planning on staying in Iowa long? Play any golf?" Paul asked. _What a brown noser_.

"Never had any sort of drive for golf. And I'm actually going back to the southern United States...Florida," Mr. Briefs said. As the cashier handed me his keys, I noticed that pause after mentioning southern states, but paid no heed and walked off to find his newly bought car. To be honest I really didn't care, but that little hesitation was hard to miss. And it was just my luck that the vehicle was parked way in the back. It turned out to be a brand new Ford Taurus, gray colored. Not exactly a dream car, but I had driven them a few times so it was decent, not like it could barely start or something. Just as I began to open the door, a hand clasped my shoulder. I spun around by instinct and met face to face with "Mr. Briefs", a name I was sure I had heard before. At first I wondered just how the hell he got out there so quick, and why I didn't hear him coming. For some strange reason I could always hear people coming, even if they were trying to sneak up on me and made not one sound. His eyes pierced into mine with a deathly glare, and they were not in the least bit comfortable to look at. I glared right back at him anyway, as I never took any shit from anyone and I wasn't going to start now. After what seemed like a few minutes of silent staring, he finally backed off a little.

"Well Dave, I guess I'll take my car now, I'll be seeing you later," he said, snatching the keys from my hand faster than I thought possible. Getting in his car, he then started up and drove off quickly, leaving me pondering over his statements. I headed back to my post and for the rest of the morning my thoughts were of nothing but Mr. Briefs.

Lunchtime came and I went to the nearby International House of Pancakes for lunch. Ordering up the breakfast with just about everything there was for breakfast meat, I sat and read the sports section of the paper. Passing waiters and waitresses chatted rather excitedly about something on the far side. I picked up on a little of the conversation, something about a fellow ordering the whole menu. It sounded pretty crazy, and expensive, but I couldn't blame anyone for that, I was pretty damn hungry myself. I tuned out of the talk once my food arrived though. Upon paying the bill, I went out to the parking lot to my car only to see a gray Taurus parked next to my car, and it wasn't there when I arrived. Seeing cars all day didn't really catch my interest, however this looked exactly like the one I had been sent to retrieve for Mr. Briefs, tags and all. Only now there was an object in the back seat, kind of covered by a small blanket. Even so, I managed to make out a handle to something long and brown that looked like a sheathed sword. This really got me a little excited, and the adrenaline started pumping through me like never before. _Great, Charlie Manson with a ninja touch_. Gathering myself, I got in my car and went back to work, trying to swallow what I just saw and keep it to myself. I personally didn't want to watch the news that night, but as things turned out, I wouldn't have anyway.

* * *

The afternoon was busier then hell. Car after car came in to be serviced, and naturally many needed washed and pulled around. One particular van was to be washed, then taken over to the sales part of the complex. That was a little unusual since most people wait in the service drive, but it was a nice day so it wasn't all that odd. The owner was a pretty young girl probably in her middle twenties, with a toddler of about two or three. Bringing her minivan around, I parked it on the far side of the driveway so not to obstruct traffic. She came out of the building with her kid ahead of her with a bag of candy.

Handing her the keys, I managed to smile, "Have a good day", and I began to walk back inside. When I turned I noticed she passed the boy who had found something more interesting on the ground to look at while she passed him. Then I heard it, the sound of tires squealing. I turned to see a big truck peeling down the driveway. I suddenly felt like I had tunnel vision when I spotted the truck. I could see the driver like he was only a few feet away, not looking at all and talking on a damned cell phone. He was speeding straight toward the toddler, who was staring at the truck like deer to headlights while his mother screamed for him to run back to her. _Come on kid, move! _The kid obviously didn't get it and I took off full sprint to get him. Reaching him with no time to spare, I wrapped my arms around him and hoisted him up, tossing him to his mother. He fell a little short from my toss, but I wasn't able to react to that once the truck hit me. Everything flashed red and then a fuzzy blue. Then the pain, wow did it ever hurt. I felt the ribs on my left side compress and then snap. Along with that, my right shoulder dislocated, causing my arm to fling around. Then I was in the air, slammed by the force of the truck. I'm not sure how far I actually flew, but it couldn't have been much. When I landed I felt a few more ribs go and my lower body suddenly went numb, waist down. All of it happened rather fast, except for the part where I was running. I managed to look back up as the truck screeched to a sudden stop. There was a bit of a dent in the truck, which was hard to believe. The driver got out yelling about damage, but when he turned and saw me struggling to move, he bolted. The truck peeled out and nearly ran someone else down before driving away.

Laying there in severe pain while the woman screamed for help, I began to chuckle slightly, "Son of a bitch. That's what I get for being, ugh, nice." Those who witnessed the event rushed over quickly, many of the salesmen.

Paul happened to be one of the first, "David, you OK?" I glared at him for a moment, more out of pain than anything else, _Do I look okay you damn fool?_

"No not really," I sputtered out, keeping my angry thoughts to myself. Then I heard multiple voices, some I knew, some I didn't.

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"That man in the truck, where'd he go?"

"Is he going to be OK?"

"Mommy, I wanna go home!"

"What was the plate on that truck Tim?"

While I was trying to move, unsuccessfully, I heard a loud crash and maybe even an explosion. The heat from it washed over me and whatever was left of my hearing roared to life as the immediate area brightened.

"Holy Shit, the truck just blew up! Where'd that light come from?" I heard someone shout. I didn't care at that point, but it did catch my attention.

"Is someone going to take him to the hospital? I can't get through on the line."

"Yeah I can get him there!" I heard about five different people say. _Nice to know at least some people care_.

"No I will take him, the rest of you go back to your business," I heard a cold voice say.

"You sure Mr. Briefs? I mean we know Des Moines pretty well and one of us should go with to show the way," Paul suggested.

"No I saw one on the way here, I'll get him there. Not to worry, just help him into my backseat, that's all," he said, now standing at a vantage I could see him in. _What is he doing here again? _I felt a few hands and arms go under me, or at least I felt the upper portion, and I was lifted into the air slowly by multiple people. I saw the car roof go over my head and soon the door shut. At this point though I was beginning to black out, the pain was getting too severe. After the engine started, the car peeled off fast, bouncing me around a bit.

"Don't give up yet man, just hang on! Don't fall asleep, talk to me if you have to, just don't fall asleep! We'll be there soon." he said, his voice a little warmer now. The car was really moving now, while laying down makes it seem fast, it had to be moving at least eighty miles per hour.

"Hey, how do you know me, and why do you look so familiar to me?" I asked.

"That will be revealed in time, though I don't know how you would know me at all." he stated strongly. _So much for talking_.

"Well I'm pretty helpless right now so you might as well spill the beans, I'll I can do is listen anyway."

"No it will wait, there's a few complicated things about you and me. It might give you a bit of a shock, which is not good right now," he said, ending the discussion. That made me a little mad, when people deliberately push me off the subject. On the other hand it got my mind off the great pain I was in and some adrenaline flowing to anger and started to dull the pain, allowing me to stay awake. His head turned at my sudden mood change, like he could feel it in the air.

"That's the way, just a little longer," he said a little lighter now. I managed to raise a single eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off. I focused on angry thoughts at random people, and it kept my blood boiling and me awake. Suddenly the car skidded to a halt and the doors flew open with a loud crack. He pulled me out by the leg almost effortlessly, but carefully. Then my midsection erupted with searing pain again, the result of being tossed over his shoulder. I gasped when I saw the car doors were gone, ripped off. I was about to ask what was going on here, but he hushed me and took off ungodly fast and into a building of some sort. It appeared to be a run down barn, but I recognized the sounds of computer equipment running. I was laid down on a table, and then Mr. Briefs took off in another direction.

"Hey wait!" I groaned.

"Be right back, don't quit on me yet!" he called back. I began focusing on angry thoughts again, for some reason it continued to help, but my body ached for sleep and my eyes got heavy anyway. If I could've hit myself just to keep awake I would have, but I couldn't.

"Help anyone, I can't stay awake!" I shouted as loud as possible, but it sounded very weak.

"Shit..." I cursed as my eyes dropped uncontrollably and sleep began to wash over me. Just when I thought it was over though, I felt something hard enter my mouth. It didn't have much of a taste at all, except for the hint of someone's finger it there.

"Here eat this," a female voice said. I chewed on what seemed like rock candy, and the inside of it was damn hard to chew. Swallowing, I felt it slide down my throat. Not three seconds later, I felt my ribs snap into place and the pain eased up. My shoulder popped, and my legs twitched as I suddenly felt them again. The muscles in my entire body expanded a bit, and my eyes shot open at the surprise. Peering down on me were Mr. Briefs and a pretty lady with blue hair in a lab coat. She was incredible very familiar to my eyes.

"Well kido, you sure gave us a scare. You can sit up now," she said backing off a little. I sat up and immediately looked myself over in disbelief, feeling my ribs and staring at my hands. I looked up at my two saviors, and a simple crazy thought entered my head upon getting their forms fully, and I knew the answer just like that. It was improbable as hell, but there was no other explanation. _No fucking way!_

"Why does everyone react like that after eating Senzu Beans the first time? Must be some built in instinct. Anyway, My name is..."

I cut in right when she said it, "Bulma?"

She stopped in shock, "How did you know?" Mr. Briefs, definitely Trunks, was gasping as well, but he quickly shifted back to a serious glare as he stepped in front of her in caution.

"I just figured it out, you're Bulma, and you're Trunks, her son. That thing you gave me was a Senzu bean, wasn't it?" I asked with a slight grin.

"Trunks, back off dear. Yes it was a bean, how do you know all this?" she asked. I let out a heavy sigh as I considered my answer. _Wow, fucking wow. I'd ask how this is even possible, but odds are that they wanted me for something in the first place, no way this is some weird coincidence! I better play it cool._

"Your story first, what do you want with me? Then I'll tell you mine," I said.

"Ok, this might be hard to swallow, but we are from an alternate universe parallel to this one. It's much different from here," she watched for any signs that I may not believe her.

"I figured that, what else?" I asked with a slight grin.

She blinked sharply, but kept going, "We are here because we picked up a power signature similar to that of a Saiyan…and I'll bet that I don't need to explain that do I?" she asked as I shook my head, "Good, we traced that signature to you as the source about two years ago, but you're not what we expected, so we set out to find the Saiyans of this timeline. We didn't find them, a villain named Frieza had killed them all. But we did manage to break into one of Frieza's bases and download some wonderful information concerning one of their best procedures. The procedure is thus: A radiation generator is set up near a choice planet to be cleared for the future years. The thing can only produce a single bolt of radiation so small it isn't worth trying to trace, however it had marvelous properties. It was small enough to hit one person, just one, and very particular too. The beam can only hit one of the choice race, and on the onset of that race's form of puberty, which to you just happened to fall around your fourteenth birthday I believe. Upon striking the person, the beam passes into the person and becomes part of their body, kind of like an immune system gland. Like a gland, it releases chemicals and such into the body. These chemicals and compounds slowly transform the person into a full-blooded Saiyan. The process is slow though, the incubation period is eight years, seven of them are rather inactive. The eighth year however is quite noticeable. The tail, the strength, the power, everything right down to the attitude rears into high gear. We believed that you were the lucky winner of this planets drawing, and then Trunks confirmed it. Whenever you get mad, your energy level skyrockets, though no one ever notices it, not even yourself. We came here to find you again before the big changes hit, and it looks like that's about ready to happen. You look thinner than we last spotted you!" she finally stopped, letting the information soak in. I couldn't help but stare back, knowing that there was no way that could be right.

"How can you be sure that I seem to have won the Who Wants to Be A Saiyan contest? I've never even noticed anything that odd, a lot of stuff changes from fourteen on, soon to be twenty-one. The odds of it hitting me right on my fourteenth are pretty slim," I replied.

She smirked slightly, "Well at least not all of you brutes are brainless. Have you ever noticed sudden feats of strength or endurance you couldn't explain? They just happen, but never repeat when you try again. Example you throw a rock into the cement and it leaves a small crater, or your reflexes are unbelievably fast for a moment but seldom stay that way. You should be tired after a long day but you're not and are full of energy. You hit something and it hurts very bad, have it checked out and turned out to be an inflamed muscle over the bone that should've broke, that kind of thing."

That got me thinking, "Come to think of it, that stuff has happened to me, once after work I bowled like twelve games, when I'm usually tired after just three. I could've done more but a cut opened on my thumb and I had to stop. Once I picked up a ten gallon bucket of water for my dads race car and hiked it up like a football and ran about a hundred yards with it and was barely winded when I got there. I could never do it again, and I've had some damn fast reflexes to things just out of the blue. Another something is the extreme weight loss in the past year, and I've been known to break things when I'm mad and get careless," I said, realizing that she was right. They were not impressive statistics to me, but could be counted as odd.

"And you cracked the concrete wall the today at your job. Not to mention that big van you pushed in, that had to be three tons of metal," Trunks added.

"I was wondering about that," I muttered.

"I thought so. Now it's your turn, how did you know who we were?" he asked with a snappy voice.

I knew I couldn't hold out, "Because in this universe a Japanese man came up with a show idea called Dragonball, being about the dragonballs, and eventually the Z fighters. Its follows your adventures, correct me if I'm wrong but you're the future Bulma and Trunks right?"

A slow nod came as their jaws slowly dropped, "Yeah it covers you guys too, right down to Vegeta flipping out when you are killed by Cell, Trunks."

"No way," Trunks gasped.

Bulma took it a little better, "Well I suppose that's possible, we've seen both major and minor discrepancies in universes that's we've traveled to. We saw one where someone just like Vegeta was a bald crime lord and his arch nemesis was almost identical to Goku, I think he called himself Superman."

"Superman with Goku's hair and Vegeta bald?" I murmured as I tried to picture it.

"Not exactly, we didn't see them eating so we can't confirm it," Bulma chuckled.

I laughed at that thought before realizing what she said, "Wait a sec, you guys just travel to different universes all the time, what gives?"

"Our planet was relying on us way too much for living conditions, just food water and shelter. They wouldn't even come out unless Trunks or myself coaxed them into it. Finally I got sick of it all as the governments and cities ceased to function properly, so we packed up and left. They had to learn sometime not to be afraid," Bulma said sadly.

"This was after Trunks destroyed the Androids and Cell correct?" I asked.

"Exactly, wow, you have our whole story memorized don't you? It went on for five years after Cell was killed. When Cell appeared during the rebuilding process, they just shut down like before, only worse," Trunks added.

"Have you ever gone back to check on them?"

"We did after a few trips. It was gone though, a rather large comet hit the earth and wiped it out, nothing but space dust was left. Seems as if destiny frowns upon the Earth's defenders and finds a way to destroy it," Bulma explained, wiping a tear.

"Well you guys found me, now what?" I asked, getting back to the point.

"Well your birthday is in a few days isn't it?" she asked as I nodded, showing up two fingers. "On that day sometime, you will probably grow a tail, signaling the beginning of the big changes. We would like to speed the process up to one night if you will co-operate, but we can wait till after the tail appears. We will have you take a special formula that we came across and enhanced, and the change will occur while you sleep. You'll wake up a full Saiyan, but unlike the change process, you shouldn't change too much personality wise since it's so quick and painless. Then we have to take you away from here, probably to stay with my counterpart for safety to this world. Your power level isn't high enough to notice now, but Frieza's scanners will surely pick it up if you change and are here to long, Trunks has on a special bracelet device I invented that jams the reading into nothing should a sweep be done, but it won't block it forever!"

"I must have missed what you said earlier, there's a Frieza in this realm too?" I asked nervously.

Bulma nodded, "Let's just say that he's been after us as well."

"Never did like that guy on the show. Wait, you're a Super Saiyan aren't you? Just blow him away!" I suggested to Trunks.

"I've had my chances, believe me. But we've been trying to stay away from him, and he tends to track us to heavily populated areas while staying in space. Saiyans can't breathe in space you know," Trunks pointed out.

"I guess that would be a little hard to deal with," I said.

"Which is why we're trying to do this quickly and efficiently. It isn't just Frieza I'm worried about here, and we have no allies. It's really just blind luck we found you at all, and you're not ready for him!" Trunks warned.

"Yeah, you're definitely right about that. That's a lot to absorb, I'll have to get my affairs in order, and there are plenty of them. It isn't right if I don't tell me family and dearest friends. Problem is that while a lot of them live here, a lot don't. Some live about eight hundred miles east and south, Ohio and Texas."

"Trunks will assist you in your activities. Request that you have a family dinner at your mother's on your birthday, there I will fill them in," Bulma suggested.

"Ok, we'd have to tell my dad as well, he and mom don't get along so we could do that before or afterwards. My apartment will probably need my belongings out of it, oh man that's a pain," I started listing all the things that would need done.

"Whoa buddy, the cleanup process will have to wait. You'll be much stronger and faster then anyway and we'd get done in a huge fraction of the time, friends and family first," Bulma suggested.

"Good idea, I'm gonna stress myself out one of these days," I chuckled, holding the back of my head. I felt a trickle of warmth in my nose right after I said that, and my nose promptly began to run red.

"God not this again!" I said aloud, catching a few weird looks. "It's this!" I said, pointing to my nose in annoyance, "I call it Captain Leaky because it always wants to bleed. I've had it sealed up a lot and it still bleeds!"

Bulma chuckled slightly, handing me a tissue to hold back the red flood, "Actually that might be a sign of truth for you, everyone that we have met that had the "condition" that you did explained odd occurrences during their life before becoming a Saiyan. Sometimes strange illness or other things that shouldn't normally occur with a younger person on a regular basis. Example your glands might go a little out of whack before your totally transformed and cause some painful experiences. Nose bleeds aren't exactly rare, but if it bleeds like you say it might have something to do with it. Have you had any other strange things happen? Maybe health related that were rather annoying, or required some form of surgery in the past few years?" she asked. I went numbly cold, recalling the events about five months ago, and the horrible pain that came with it.

"Do the words kidney stone ring a bell?" I asked.

Bulma laughed, "You're way too young to have those, you actually had one? Owww you poor dear!"

"And it's not something I want to repeat believe me! Hell I still get little aftershocks of pain from it, nothing like it was, just noticeable. The doctors all thought it was the sugar and caffeine I consumed all the time, and that was more than plenty as it was. I dropped off all that stuff and replaced it with large amounts of Gatorade and water, dropped eighty pounds because of that. I still think the weight loss wasn't worth it, but I do feel better than I did, that stone really screwed with my system!" I explained, almost laughing at the pathetic state I had been in, and hoping I wouldn't be in that state ever again.

Trunks looked slightly confused, "Just how painful was it? I've experienced death before, and not much can beat that!"

"Probably not, but imagine someone beating the crap out of you with a hammer and chisel in this one spot. So painful you can barely move or breathe, and that's before your stomach wants to empty itself quickly. The worst part is, you can barely do anything about it. Sure I tried to tough it out even at my workplace, but it gives you a high fever and saps your energy completely. There were many times I thought I would pass out from it. Of course it wouldn't let me simply go to sleep either. Going to bed really sucked, especially since the pain killers had a knack of wearing off before bed," I said, watching his face grimace slightly from my descriptive response.

"But if you're not supposed to get those till an older age, how come you got one? Even with sugar and caffeine intake," he asked. I glanced at Bulma, who smiled right back, as if waiting for me to explain it.

"One doctor said it was possible that my thyroid gland wasn't working right, and that it can produce a stone from calcium deposits in the blood. I'm guessing what you guys have told me may have something to do with it," I said.

"Wow, you're a smart one too!" Bulma smiled, "Such a shame that Trunks has spent his entire life training and fighting, he would have invented great things with his mind." She beamed at him slightly, his rubbed his head in response, not sure what to say.

"I'm not that smart, I just pay attention," I mumbled.

"But you're right, the thyroid glands can produce those if it had a problem or infection," She gave me a slight glance to improve my theory.

"Guess I can thank good things to bring me the worst pain in my life, ugh. Sometimes I wondered if I was truly normal, guess not!" I laughed a little with the group. Maybe abnormal was the best way to live.

**Power levels not needed**


	3. Birthday Tails

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 2: Birthday Tails**

Wow how my life changed in less than a day. The first thing Trunks and I did was go back to my apartment to plan things out. He had on a special watch that could send a transmission back to Bulma quickly. Right away we called my mother to have her plan on a home dinner and to not worry about gifts as we had this announcement. Still bewildered she pressed me with questions of if I was feeling all right and such. That's when Trunks and I decided to drive down and give her the scoop in person. When she obviously didn't believe it, Trunks showed off a ki blast and a flight around the yard. I thought she was going to faint, she didn't but was a little shaken.

"Don't fret about the apartment or the belongings, we'll take care of that after the change. I just wanted to get the immediate family together for this, is it kind of important to me to say goodbye to them. I'll say goodbye to the Texas relatives and Dad's family as well as my Ohio friends all tomorrow," I said, hugging her.

She embraced me back, "Why can't you stay, even as a, what is it a,.. Saiyan? You're still my son," she said.

"We already told you the reason mom, I don't like it much either. Maybe I can after I learn my powers and can protect this planet properly I will. But until then, Trunks is right, I must leave so not to endanger you," I said, holding back tears.

"Well, Trunks is it, you're stronger than this Frieza aren't you?" she said to him.

"Very much yes, however he could destroy the planet from space. He could gain knowledge of us if we were to stay and if I were training him here. I can't breathe in space, Frieza can, so that will not work. Better safe then sorry," he replied.

"Look at it this way mom, the nosebleeds will stop!" I said with a slight chuckle.

Mom looked down, "Oh ok, that makes since, I'll go prepare the arrangements...get going on your errands." she said, leaving the room.

I called my Ohio friends first, asking for directions for their respective homes from a nearest highway. Trunks pulled out a capsule and opened it to reveal an air vehicle, two seated. And it flew fast, we got to the places we needed to get to in less than an hour, probably shattering the sound barrier a few times. I was a little worried that some random stealth fighter would shoot us down, but nothing ever did.

At first my friends thought I had tried alcohol a bit too early, but a quick demonstration by Trunks ended that. We kept it short and sweet though and got on our way. Something odd though, they didn't seem nearly as surprised as I thought they would be, in fact it was almost as if they expected it. Maybe they knew I was a little different, maybe they didn't, but they were certainly hiding something. I didn't press the issue though, the whole concept was still incredibly raw to me. Next we came back home to visit my great-grandparents, I knew that they wouldn't understand any of it so I just settled for seeing them one last time. After all they were both approaching the century mark and couldn't remember much anyway, which really made me feel bad that there wasn't anything I could do. After my grandparents we called it a night and Trunks stayed at my apartment.

The first thing I noticed the next day was him eating a huge supply of food, but I hadn't a slightest clue where it had come from. I didn't carry that much food in my house and I doubted he went to the store. When he saw the confused look on my face, he swallowed the current mouthful and held up an object.

"Food capsule, keeps it warm too. I know your appetite isn't going to be up to Saiyan specs yet, so I packed some for myself," he said.

I let out a sigh of relief, "Good, because mom would have to cook a lot to come close to satisfying that stomach." Then I looked up and saw what he was watching on the TV. "Now should you really be watching that?" I asked.

"What, it's just my fight with Frieza. It's my favorite one!" Trunks claimed. I saw my stack of video tapes were out of order slightly. _Good thing my Buu saga DVD's are in my room_.

"Whatever," I sighed and sat down, right about the time when Frieza gets sliced in half and then into chunks.

* * *

First thing on the agenda, I contacted my Texas family and found they were already assembled for their own family dinner. That worked out well so we didn't have to tell the same story constantly. Of course Trunks had to demonstrate some more, but it held a convincing factor, as well as a destructive one. Coming back home a bit early, I spoke to some other friends on the phone, but only told them that I was going elsewhere, like Seattle or Florida, keeping it simple. As the day wore on, I noticed a tingly feeling at the base of my spine.

"That's your tail taking shape, you should have it when you wake up in the morning. We'd better hurry to your father's place and then stay the night at your mother's house so to keep you out of sight," Trunks suggested. Dad's trip I saved for last, for a good reason, because I knew we would be there for a while getting the story straight.

After multiple demonstrations of Trunks' powers, Dad finally gave in, "Well kid, go on your journey, but come back here whenever your want. You'll always have a place here, just come and visit your old man sometime. I gotta get my gray hairs somewhere other than under a greasy engine," he said.

"Oh you know I'll be back sometime Dad. I gotta see you win a race for once, qualifiers don't count!" I said with a laugh. When Dad's middle finger went up, Trunks gave me a strange look.

"Don't worry about that Trunks, that's our signal to each other that you got me good, and I cant think of a good come back to that last statement. I'm usually the one holding it up so I'm happy," I said. That was true, me and Dad always insulted each other if we weren't poking fun of other things, made up for lost time when he divorced my mom. After all, quality time rarely came.

"Well Happy Birthday Kid. Come back when you can," Dad said, waving slightly as we took off in the air car.

"You and your Dad sure do get along well, better than me and mine..." Trunks said in a down voice.

"That wasn't always so, we used to fight all the time. Not physically, just verbally. We managed a good relationship after my Grandma died. To this day I'm not really sure why though, I guess it kinda pulled us together. We were both depressed for months afterwards, we kinda pulled each other out," I said, recalling that memory.

"Well let's get back to Gina's, Mom said that she would arrive in the morning around ten. I will stay there as well, I need to stay nearby just incase something goes astray with your change." Trunks stated.

"I thought it was just the tail tonight? Other than maybe some pain, what could go wrong?" I asked.

"Do the words 'full moon tonight' mean anything to you?" he asked with a loud voice.

"Good point," I said quickly. After my long day of goodbyes, I was mentally out of it anyway. Heading to my bed in my mother's basement, I crashed at about eleven at night or so. I woke up once for a bathroom break, when I saw a slight glimmer of moonlight, and I wisely strayed away. I did not have a tail yet and my backside was buzzing like crazy, kinda like when your foot falls asleep. I was a bit curious, but I decided that accidentally tearing up the house and stomping people wasn't worth the chance. I passed by Trunks, who was snoring loudly on the couch. The dog lay nearby, looking like she was covering her ears. I heard her whimper a bit when I turned the corner, but she stayed where she was while staring at me. _She must sense it, she knows that I'll be leaving soon_. I headed back to bed with that thought, hoping I wouldn't feel much in the way of pain.

* * *

I woke up with a bit of a startle and nothing felt different, but my head wasn't really together yet. Climbing out of bed, I immediately dropped and fell on my face. I tried to stand again, only to wobble and fall to my knees. Placing a hand on my hip, a felt a brush of fur go by and stroke my hand. Realizing that it definitely wasn't the dog, I felt the base of my spine. I found a stalk of fur poking out of my clothes; my tail had grown at last. Right away I found I couldn't move it much, it really liked to twitch on its own and roam free. I really had to try hard to move this new growth around in any direction.

"You'll adjust to that, mine was a pain when I first got mine," Trunks said from the doorway.

"I thought you got yours when you were born?" I asked, still trying to balance myself.

"I did, mother had it removed right away, but it can grow back. It did once when I was four when mother finally told me that father died to the androids, my reaction wasn't the best," he said softly. It was clear that he didn't like bringing that up.

"Well I can't say I don't have a temper, it has reared its ugly head a few times in the past few years. Now I know why, but for now, I am really hungry," I declared as my stomach growled.

Trunks grinned a little, "Sounds pretty normal to me." I found some scissors on one of my shelves and cut a hole in the back of my underwear and shorts that I was wearing. I managed to squeeze my tail through them, making it a bit more comfortable to move.

I followed Trunks upstairs, only to find Bulma cooking a meal on mother's stove. "Hey mom, I thought you were gonna be here later," Trunks said, surprised.

"Oh I thought I'd come help Gina cook, she'll need the help with two Saiyans here. Besides I'm sure you're almost out of capsule food son," she said, beaming at him.

Trunks looked down a little, "Yeah I have one more left, so that should help some with the food today."

"Well I should hope so, from what your mother tells me, you boys will have some nasty appetites! Now I know where it came from!" Mom said, coming in from the dining room and grabbing some plates. We both scratched the back of our heads and grinned sheepishly.

"Oh come on Mom, I doubt I'll be that bad. At least no more than usual," I said with a smile.

"Oh I've seen your stomach in full swing, but then I saw Trunks eat late last night. Bulma said most Saiyans are like that so I'm preparing for the worst."

My family arrived slowly, first my great aunt, then my uncle, who immediately set out to spoil the dog, Coco. Then a knock at the door, Trunks opened it up to find my Dad at the door.

"Well I have to say goodbye to ya kid, before you turn into someone else," he reasoned.

Mom saw him and scowled instantly, "You pick now for quality time?" she snapped. Dad just grinned, which caused Mom to frown even more.

Seeing how this was going to go, I stepped in quickly, "I talk to him quite often mom, I went racing with him every Friday remember?" I stated.

She just huffed a bit, "Well no smoking in here Mike, I can't stand the odor."

"Whatever," he said, heading for the deck where my aunt was already puffing away. Seeing my need of salvation before my parents started up, Trunks pulled me aside and into the living room, where my uncle was terrorizing the dog.

"Hey punk!" he said.

"Hey John, just escaping the events in the kitchen, I figured you'd be out riding the bike until dinner was ready."

"Nope not today, too windy. Besides I can't miss this, what's this about a tail? Is that what that brown thing is poking out behind your back?" he asked.

"Yeah that's it, haven't had it but for a few hours and its already a pain, but I wont have it removed," I said, grabbing it out of the air and pulling it around to examine it further. Brown and fury is all it looked like, but when I grabbed it, I noticed it was very sensitive, just blowing air across it felt like someone was running their finger over it. I squeezed it very gently and it hurt like I had just took a razor to it. "Note to self, don't squeeze the tail," I said aloud while the others were watching me inspect it.

Trunks laughed, "Tell me about it man, its hurts a hell of a lot when you first get it squeezed hard. Better keep that dog away from it if she gets close," At the mention of the word dog, Coco jumped up and looked around, and spotted the tail right away. Luckily she didn't pay it much notice for the moment. John had plugged in season two of The Osbornes, playing the third episode titled "The Ozzman and the Sea," my personal favorite. Watching someone like Ozzy Osborne go fishing with cheese is just hysterical.

"Dinner's ready!" Bulma called from the other room. As if a trigger went off in my head, I was up and rushing to the table, papers on the counter blew clear into another room. "Well someone's hungry!" Bulma said, smirking a bit as I passed by. I just sort of nodded and sat down, barely able to wait for everyone else to show up. The table was loaded with random food, some I had never seen before, some I had. I began to care less what was on the table, as long as I could eat it. The closest bowl was the broccoli casserole and egg salad. Now I usually am a picky eater, but my stomach didn't care and put me into auto drive, dumping a bunch on my plate and scarfed away. Mom and Dad just stared as I began woofing down stuff they rarely ate as well, never mind me. Trunks just shrugged and sat down and began the same process.

"Damn boy, slow down for the sake of the table. You'll eat that as well at the rate your going," Dad said after the first four bowls in front of me were empty and I was still going strong.

I got a chance to speak in between bites, "Don't ask me dad, my stomach seems to be on autopilot. I don't even care what's there, just as long as it ends up down my throat."

"Well that's a first," he muttered. Eventually everyone sat down and began eating, but only after I slowed my pace so that I wouldn't grab their arm instead of a turkey leg.

Bulma just chuckled slightly, "You'd think I'd be used to this by now, but I still have to stop in awe. Neither of these two have anything on my friend Goku or my husband Vegeta. They could eat the buffet out three times over before they got full, Goku probably more!" Mom's jaw dropped, my aunt's did too.

"Oh don't worry Gina, the Saiyan metabolism doesn't allow much of a weight gain, he'll just burn it all up as energy," Bulma explained. She just slowly nodded, probably thinking of the ungodly money put into one meal, never mind many.

I slowly got up and stretched, then looked down and realized just how much I ate and gasped, "Wow it didn't seem like that much," I exclaimed.

Trunks snorted, "Yeah well it tends to get carried away sometimes."

"Well yeah when I ate probably fifteen times as much as I normally would, and even that was plenty!" I said.

"Hey punk, do you want to bust out the monopoly board or a deck of cards for old times sake?" John asked.

I glanced at Bulma, "Sure John, get out your games, were going to need to leave later tonight. My bracelet that keeps Trunks' power hidden won't hold up with two Saiyans around. It'll last through tonight though, I'm sure the kid would want some quality time with his family before having to leave for who knows how long. Besides I'm curious to play this monopoly, sounds like my kind of game," she said. We broke out the monopoly board and explained the game to Trunks and Bulma.

"Oh I've played something just like this! It was called Tycoon, instead of houses and hotels, you have stores and strip malls, and you charged money for buying stuff instead of rent. Though it never said what you might've bought, just the charges. I played that game a lot when I was a girl. Trunks never really had anyone to play with, besides he had his training to worry about. But we'd love to play this version," she said happily.

Rather then playing on the standard monopoly board, I pulled out the "Grinch Monopoly" board, where everything on it was based off "How the Grinch stole xmas". That was fun since we had so many people to play, we even had to break out the regular board for the pieces. The Grinch version only had six pieces and we had seven people, that and we needed the dollar bills from the original. Bulma turned out to be an absolutely brilliant trader and managed to get the right balance of stuff to easily win the game pending the roll of the dice. Trunks went down quick on one such deal when Bulma pulled the food trick out of her hat and said she wouldn't cook for him. Next roll he hit one a big hotel fee and was out of the game. Mom and my aunt spent most of the game in jail, lucky for them. Money was flying back and forth between hits on rent properties. I managed to grab a cheap monopoly and a medium one and lived off that one, upgrading when I could. Dad had seriously bad luck, but managed to sneak two railroads out of my aunt with cigarette trading, dirty pool, but it was ok. He went down at Bulma's corner up by the "go to the Grinch cave" space. John had grabbed the monopoly right after the jail and the one right after free parking when he got it from mom via trade for railroads. She went down on my expensive hotel space, giving me some money and cheap utilities. My aunt went down next, though John tried to keep her in by just simply taking a property, she ran out of stuff to give him and took bankruptcy. It came down to Bulma, John and me. Bulma's luck had been pretty good on the roll, she had tons of money and her whole corner was upgraded. Then all at once she passed go and hit two of my three properties for about 1100 total thanks to a snake eye roll of two. Next turn john rolled a seven and went to jail. My turn came and I hit a ten to hit the free parking pot of about 400. Bulma's next turn landed her on one of John's hotels and some of her hotels had to be downgraded to houses. Doubles for her twice, first one hit another one of johns in the same area, and again to hit my spot and eliminate her. It was down to John and me, but only for a few turns, I had enough cash to upgrade some of my newly acquired property and missed all of his. He hit three of mine in a row and that ended the game.

"Wow that took awhile, four hours to be exact," Bulma said, standing up to stretch.

"Yeah I've played some all day games before, they take forever as you might imagine. Once we left the board as it was, went to bed, and finished it the next day," John said, "For some reason it always comes down to me and David."

"I can see why, kid's got either a decent brain or a lot of luck. Well what now guys, its about 4:30 now?" Bulma asked.

"What about Bowling, we haven't all gone in a long time. Only David goes mostly, we could do that for his last night," Mom suggested.

Panic filled my face, "That may not work Ma, they kinda threw me out last week. I broke all the pins whenever I threw the ball, they had to shut down five of their lanes after I did it," I said, rubbing my head in shame. Mom's face was pricelessly funny, she just didn't know what to say. My aunt's was the same, Dad and John just shook their heads and laughed a bit along with Trunks.

"Well we could do some cards, they don't take as long and no damage. Besides I'd like to play a bunch of games so I don't forget how to play them. We tend to be card sharks here," I suggested.

"Well first lets slice some pie!" Mom said from the kitchen. She pulled out my favorite, chocolate dream pie she made herself, cheesecake, and apple pie. This time I didn't hog out on the food, mostly because I was helping John teach Bulma and Trunks how to play some of the card games, that and my aunt always had trouble remembering. We played Hearts, Euchre, Up and down the river, Spades, Pitch, and Texas Hold em' Poker. Not everyone ended up playing some of them, but everyone except my aunt jumped into Poker, especially when we pulled out the fake chips and tried to out bluff and outplay each other. I went down when I was trying to bluff and the dog nipped my drooping tail. To say it hurt was an understatement, and I lost all motor function for a split second just as Trunks shooed her away. It was enough to cause me to drop my cards suddenly, which in our rules means fold. Everyone offered to let me stay in, but for me rules are rules. After that I kept it wrapped up and away from her, though I think she learned her lesson after the first few screams. Anyway, the games finished up with my Dad and Bulma survived the rounds due to smart play and really good bluffs. Bulma won over him by out bluffing a flush with a pair of deuces to his three of a kind folding.

* * *

I don't like sad goodbyes, and its even worse remembering them. But it was a very heartfelt goodbye to my immediate family members. No one really said much, though mom and my aunt were crying a little. After everyone left, Trunks and Bulma took me back to the abandoned barn they had turned into a lab. Inside she directed me over to a table and ordered me to lay down on it, then both of them left the room. Trunks brought in a glass of water and set it on a nearby countertop. Bulma came in a minute later with a large red pill.

"Okay kido, this is the pill that will accelerate your changeover. You'll basically wake up in a new body, though I'm not sure what exactly will happen. That I know of, this was only done twice, and the first patient was not even close to Saiyan to begin with. He died during the change, the second succeeded though, well kind of. He actually looked humanoid so this should work," she said with a slight smile.

I gave here that bewildered look of mine, "That's so reassuring," I said sarcastically.

"Oh don't worry, I put the formula through several tests and even changed it up a little. I know it will work, after all I am a genius!" she said with pride.

"If this doesn't work, remind me to never take your pills again," I said, taking the glass out water and the pill in each hand.

"Oh hush and take it already," she said, exasperated. _Maybe I should ask her for the blue one first. _Taking the pill into my mouth, I took a huge swig of water and swallowed. Then I turned laid my head down on the pillow and stared upward, hoping this wouldn't be too painful. I heard a beeping sound, coming from what looked to be a radar screen of some kind.

Bulma strode over to take a look at it, "Uh oh, looks like Frieza's lackeys were patrolling near where I placed that marker. We better leave first thing in the morning!" she suggested.

"Good idea mom, I'll pack some stuff up tonight!" Trunks said.

"Trunks will be right next door, so he will be here in an instant if something goes wrong. Just yell for him or me," she said exiting the room with a happy grin, "Have a good night."

Trunks and I just stared and watched her leave, "Beam me up Scotty!" I said throwing my hands up behind my head. Trunks looked at me weird.

Catching the misinterpretation, I turned back to him, "Just a phrase, came off an old science fiction TV show. People often say it to mean "oh I give up" on the subject."

"Don't wear out that phrase, you may say it a lot around my mother," Trunks said, chuckling as he left the room. Hitting the lights on his way out, I was left to be the only witness to my transformation. I silently hoped again there wouldn't be much pain, but there was no turning back now. About an hour after I first laid down I noticed my muscles twitching a little, involuntarily, and my head began to spin. I got drowsy and began to drop out of consciousness. The only thing I could wonder was what I might look like when I awoke the next day.

**Power levels not needed**


	4. Verto

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 3: Verto**

I woke up lying on the table just like before, but I could tell something was very different right away. I felt like a kid after visiting a sugar factory, full of energy. My rather big midsection was replaced with a small but hard set of muscles, as were my legs and arms. Something else was different, vaguely familiar, but much different. The room seemed a little bigger, enough for me to know it wasn't quite the same as before. I jumped off the table and found that it was a long drop down. Then I saw a problem, everything in the room seemed twice as big then it had when I fell asleep. My clothes promptly fell off, also too big. My tail roamed freely behind me until I jerked it back and forth, testing its movement. Last night the table was about three and half feet or up to my waist for me before. Now I couldn't get my chin over it at all.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" I muttered to myself. Spotting a mirror I rushed over to it and took a look at the new me. My face was pretty similar but slimmer with different eyes. Instead of blue-green they were now very dark, almost black. My hair had gone from short and random to stalky and spiky. One side was stuck flat down like my old hair style was before I shaved it off. The other side stuck clear up in the air and toward the back. Aside from a slightly change of the hairstyle, I looked kind of like Gohan to be honest. The only thing was, I also looked to be just shy of three foot six inches.

_You gotta be kidding me, I'm a kid! I expected a change, but nothing like this! _I basically looked like a Saiyan child probably should, short but strong. I trudged back over to the table, unsure of what to do. I sighed slightly and attempted to climb back into my make shift bed. Figuring it could take awhile, I tried to jump into it as I climbed. Imagine my surprise when I was suddenly staring at the ceiling before slowly coming down. I came down quickly enough and landed on the other side of the table with both feet and no problem. I couldn't help but stare back up at the ceiling, which was quite a bit high than just your standard eight to nine feet. To experience that so soon sure woke my ass up. Climbing back into the bed and covering up with my shed and now way to large clothes, I let it all sink in. I was a kid again, a twenty one year old human trapped in the body of a Saiyan child. I glanced back at the mirror from the table, guessing that I was in the neighborhood of six to eight years old.

"So, how are we feeling today? Don't feel like blowing something up do you?" Trunks asked, coming into the room but not seeing me yet.

"I don't know, see for yourself," I said in a pitiful tone, but noticeably younger sounding.

Trunks rounded the corner and his eyes shot open when he saw me, "What the hell?" As he came closer, his eyes just got wider. "You're a kid! How did that happen? You should be the same age you started out in, but you look barely seven," he exclaimed.

"Seven eh, seems younger. Guess the ladies will have to wait!" I snorted._Well that's a good sign, my sense of humor isn't completely gone_.

"I wonder how that happened? From twenty one to seven just in one night," he said, a hand to his chin.

"Hmmm, I wonder if she messed the formula up and it made me the same age as the Saiyan glands and blood," I suggested.

Trunks looked at me funny, "That sounds crazy enough to be correct, MOM!" he shouted. We waited for a few minutes before she stumbled in with a blue robe on.

"What is it Trunks? Is something wrong?"

Then she saw the look on my face, "You just had to ask didn't you?" I said.

* * *

A few hours later I was rigged up under some sort of huge scanner that covered me from my neck to my feet since I was so short now.

"From what I can gather, you're exactly as you should be. I designed the pill for this result because I felt that you should start as a child. The last one started as an adult, he ended up crazy because the Saiyan cells and blood tried to age as well. Meaning a bunch of new hormones were introduced right away and it messed up his brain. I figured if I simply programmed it to keep you the same age as the cells, it would work better. Now you are completely stable, I'm glad that worked." she explained.

Trunks and I sort of hit a mental pause, "You programmed it for this result?" I asked I surprise.

"I won't bore you with the details, it's very complicated," she said with a triumphant grin.

"So I'm a kid again, wonderful. Now I get to go through the teenage years again, whoopee! Though it could be a little more fun now," I said with an evil grin.

"So you're happy with the result?" she said, looking for approval.

"Well it wasn't what I expected, but what can we do about it now? It's not like I can simply ask for a refund right? I can accept this though, thanks for helping me through it," I said, giving off a reassuring smile.

"No problem, now I doubt you want to stay naked all day long. Trunks, go get that old training outfit of yours. That should fit him just about right." I nodded nervously, I wasn't overly comfortable being the only one without clothes on at the moment.

"Okay mom," Trunks nodded as he left the room.

"Let me see that tail," she said, reaching a hand out. I swished it over, a full days practice with it gave me a little control. It wasn't what I would call mastered yet, but I was getting there. She clutched it snugly and with her free hand, stroked it up and down like petting a dog or cat. Like a dog or cat, it had a similar result and sent warm shivers up my spine and made me very feel good inside.

"Looks like it works correctly. I didn't do that yesterday because it could've had a different effect, if you know what I mean," she grinned.

I nodded with a smirk, "Yeah I don't think embarrassing me in front of my family would have looked good." I silently thanked whatever had prevented that from happening. Trunks came back in a minute later with a blue martial arts outfit with a red sash and a small pair of tennis shoes. The "gi" fit quite well, though the belt was a bit big and it dragged a bit next to my knees. A small slit was already cut out in the back for my tail. Slipping on the shoes, I noticed how small my feet were now compared to my huge foot yesterday, about three fourths of a foot length shorter.

"Maybe shoe shopping won't be as much of a pain now," I joked.

Bulma chuckled, "Maybe not but you'll probably be getting them more often, they tend to disintegrate when they take an energy blast."

That reminded me, "So when do I start training?"

Bulma's head hung, "Why is that the first question with you Saiyans? One mention of your potential and you want to train! Well I'm sure Trunks can teach you a little."

Trunks frowned a little, "Well mom I think it would be better if he were to train with father. He can teach him so much more than I can. Besides the other me could use a little brother," he laughed when I gave him a glare.

"I'll show you who's little soon enough!" I declared.

"In your dreams shorty!" Trunks roared back.

"Hey now! Save your challenges for a later date," Bulma cut in between us, "But your right Trunks, he should train with Vegeta in that peaceful timeline. We'll take him there this afternoon once we leave the planet," she said, turning on her heel and leaving the room.

"Well I guess that's settled, well I don't think I need to tell what my dad is like, do I?" Trunks asked.

"Anything different from what I may have already seen?" I asked back.

"No, it's pretty much right," Trunks replied.

"Then no, I'm good. I have a good idea of what he is like," I said.

"TRUNKS! COME AND HELP LOAD UP MY EQUIPMENT! WE SHOULDN'T LEAVE ANYTHING BEHIND!" Bulma called back. My ears rumbled a bit at the loud voice. For a moment I actually thought someone had a megaphone up to my head.

"You'll get used to the sensitive hearing after awhile. Stay here, this is actually part of the ship so its ok," he said, walking out of the room. _A ship that looks like a farm house? Not a bad plan here in Iowa, but anywhere else, uh no_.

* * *

After Trunks helped Bulma load up the ship, they wasted no time in prepping the ship for blastoff. While Bulma went over her computers for last minute checking, Trunks was showing me how his original time machine worked.

"...and you just hit this button back here and it reverts back to its capsule form. This number is a dimension number, believe it or not there are a lot of alternate universes out there. We've had to keep this set at that number once we started traveling, that way in case of emergency we can use it to get somewhere we know. I update the year and month all the time so I stay on the same general timeframe as them. We're going there in the month of March, about seven years since I have been there. It will be nice to see Dad again, and Gohan, I bet he's all grown up now. Krillin too, though I hope he gave up on that android 18, she is bad to the core," Trunks said, smiling and frowning at the different memories. I allowed my eyebrow to drift up for just a moment when I realized just what timeframe he might have meant, but I quickly let it go.

"Well I look forward to meeting everyone," I replied as the ship shook a little as it blasted off

"Lets go up front, I'm sure you'll want to see this," Trunks said as I followed him out. We came into the control room, it had a huge window with great view of space.

"Hey boys, you're just in time, we're just now leaving orbit! I'll tune the screen so you can see your world one last time!" She did so and the screen blipped to the view of my world, the earth. A big blue pearl in the blackness of space, quite a sight to take in as we made distance from it and it shrank from view.

"We have to make some distance to the outer edge of this solar system for a stable time jump. It'll be a little while before we get there, so far I haven't picked up anymore signals from any of Frieza's ships," Bulma said from the computer console.

"That's okay Bulma, I'll take in the view," I replied.

"Hey, just to let you know a few things about father you may not know, do not cry or whine, he doesn't accept that. I learned the hard way and I was seventeen when I trained with him. He will be very tough on you, talking down is one of his favorite things to do. I suggest you not talk back to him, mother tells me he took lives for less than a poorly timed glare," Trunks said in a serious tone.

"Yeah I get the idea. I understand he isn't the easiest to get along with, but I can adjust. I've dealt with true assholes before, I know deep down, somewhere, there's a good man. The exterior may not show it, but its there somewhere," I said with a nod.

Trunks smiled, "Good, just maybe he'll actually regard your existence. Speaking of which, how would you like a new name, a Saiyan one?"

"I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose a name from this world might sound a little weird on the other one. How about Verto?" Bulma suggested.

"Verto?" I asked...sounded ok, "Where'd that name come from?"

"Just a name I happened to find when my father was scrolling through Saiyan language off of Goku's old spacecraft. Nothing special about it that I know of, but it's a Saiyan name. I figure new life, new name. Besides, Vegeta might be able to accept you better if you had a Saiyan's name," she said. Something about her tone didn't feel right, but considering the change I had been through, everything seemed a little off.

"Works for me, Verto...I'll have to get used to that one," I replied. We turned back to the screen and continued watching Earth shrink in view.

"Looks like Frieza's goons didn't detect us after all, I was a little concerned about my ki blocker blocking two Saiyan power levels from detection, looks like he wont even have the slightest idea," Bulma said happily. She spoke way too soon, and a large red light beam streaked across space, heading directly for Earth. I felt a strange heat from afar as it streaked by, vanishing once it passed by. I knew there was no way I could have felt that inside the ship, but it was as if there was a flamethrower two feet away. We gasped in horror, speechless horror. The beam disappeared when it would've struck, and was replaced by a large explosion. When the light cleared, Earth was gone. Well all gasped and remained speechless, still in shock for what happened. I just stood there and shook a little, my breath shuddering a little, like someone had just stabbed me in the heart. Anyone who just narrowly avoided a life ending car accident only to find out someone close to you died in it would know how that feels. Trunks turned to his left and growled a bit.

Bulma was the first to speak though, "What the hell!" She retuned the view screen to show a large spider like ship in front of us, and someone on top of it with a finger pointed toward earth.

"Blast it! I can sense its Frieza! He tracked us after all. I can't fight him in space, mother try to out run his ship!" Trunks ordered. _That son of a bitch!_ I thought angrily, seething at the thought of that creep wiping out everything I had ever known.

"You know we can't Trunks! We can try but he can just shoot us out of the sky. And I don't think I have anymore spacesuits, you burned the last one up last time we ran into his forces," Bulma said sadly as a blip appeared on her monitor. "They're hailing us! Maybe they can be talked to after all," she said hopefully.

Trunks' eyes lowered, "I doubt that mother, probably just wants a surrender term." Bulma patched in the hail to the view screen, a smaller window appeared in the middle. And in the middle of it, Frieza himself, in his final form.

"Greetings Super Saiyan. I do not have quarrel with you at this time, I'm still dealing with my mechanical arm you gave me," he held up a hunk of metal attached at the elbow.

"If your filthy guards hadn't touched my mother at the last moment, you would be needing a metal head if you had lived after I was done with you!" Trunks growled.

Frieza's expression changed to that of slight fear, but then anger, "Saiyan insect, be glad that I wish to defeat you in battle rather then in space where the field is all mine. I do not want bloodshed at this time, all I want is for you to hand over the Saiyan you discovered on Earth. We created him so he belongs to me, is that him there? Oh a child too! Excellent, he could go a long way with me, if he lives long enough," Frieza laughed at that last statement.

Trunks growled again, "No way Frieza, you have no claim to him whatsoever!"

Frieza grinned, "I beg to differ, maybe I'll just blow you out of space rather than trying to capture him alive, but I need another primate around to give me entertainment. After all I am the best skilled warrior in the universe. When I'm not fighting weaklings I have to have something to do. Maybe I'll train the boy, if he can keep up with me that is."

"You won't have to worry about that you gay albino bastard! I'll be happy to be the one who tears off your head next time!" I spoke up.

"Shhh, don't agitate him!" Trunks whispered.

"Oh look, he's full of spunk just like every other Saiyan I've ever met. That'll change soon enough!" Frieza chuckled.

Trunks growled some more, but I answered him again, "Shut your fuckin trap you piece of shit! The only thing you're good for is beating up and killing the weak and innocent! You're the most pathetic form of pond scum I've ever seen, go to hell and roast with the rest of the trash!" I shouted at him. I had never liked his character that much, but now I truly despised him. Frieza's jaw dropped, probably never saw anyone speak to him in that way, never mind a child.

But the shock didn't hold, "Silence child! How dare you speak to the Lord of the Universe in such a way!" he shouted back.

"Apparently the only class that's left in this universe is standing on this ship! Kinda hard to be the Lord when you can't beat, what was it you called us? Oh yes, primates! Do us all a favor and go find a hobby, or better yet, another gay alien! You're previous boyfriend obviously found someone better!" Frieza's expression grew angrier, and even Trunks was chuckling by now. Then I heard a loud laugh behind Frieza, and a very large being stepped in behind him.

"Oh that kid has some spunk son! I don't think I've ever heard anyone insult you like that, oh that's rich!"

"Father! I'm trying to conduct business here, you're not helping!" Frieza shouted behind him. _Ah, King Kold._

"Oh look, daddy dearest consoling his lonely son! I'd tell you both to go out somewhere and get laid, but I'm not sure you even can! Do you even have women? Must be rough," I smirked a bit.

"Argh!" Frieza growled again.

"As much as I would enjoy listening to that runt's banter, it's obvious that he won't stop until you kill him anyway. Just blow them out of space, its not like you can't find more Saiyans to pick on!" Kold proclaimed.

"Ah hell!" Trunks whispered.

Frieza turned back to us, "On suggestion from my father, I'm canceling the deal. Farewell Saiyans!"

"Punch it mother!" Trunks shouted, though she was already going. Our ship took off, but pink beams went sailing by, followed by severe shaking when they hit.

"Trunks, I don't know if I can outrun them! We must make the time jump but we can't with that ship chasing us down, we have to be stopped first!" Bulma screamed.

Trunks looked very worried, but then thought of something, "Mother! We can send him in the old time machine, it still has enough juice for one trip!" Right after he said it a large explosion went off and we all fell forward. The ship had stopped and the computer was going nuts showing view of damaged engines.

"Go get it, send him now! They hit the main coolant lines so the ship can't jump timelines now. Go before the boarding party shows up, Frieza may still try to take us alive!" Bulma shouted as she pulled herself back into her seat.

Trunks grabbed my hand and rushed out of the room faster then I thought anyone could move. We arrived at the time machine's room right as the intruder alarms went off.

Trunks kneeled down and held me by my sides, "Alright, you know what to do. This should take you my friends in the other timeline, somewhere around West City. You may have to look for them but you know what they look like. Take this to show your connection to me," he said as he handed me a capsule.

"What's in it?" I asked.

"It contains my battle armor, my sword, and my capsule jacket. If that doesn't work you always have the time machine, just no energy. I can't promise anything, but I will do what I can to catch up with you if we can. Farewell, my brother."

"But what about you guys?" I asked as he picked me up by the waist and flew to the top of the machine hatch and dumped me in, hitting the start button and backing away.

"Don't worry about us, you have your own life to get on with! We'll be fine, now get going!" he said sharply. The glass closed and the ship began to rise. Just then some purple goon with horns burst into the room with a hundred foot soldiers, all of them blasting at Trunks. I saw him give me a slight wave as a golden rush of air surrounded him. His hair instantly turned blond and I felt that incredible rush of heat again, coming from him. He had transformed into a Super Saiyan. Sure I had seen it, but there was a drastic difference between fantasy and the real thing. He attacked the soldiers just as a flash blinded me and the time ship was thrown into a colorful tunnel with stars and hues flying by. I fell down into the seat and held on tightly. I could only watch in awe as the time ship flew forward at incredible speeds towards my destination.

* * *

Another flash and I was out of the colorful light tunnel and staring into the sunlight. I arrived on a planet for sure, and it looked like Earth all right. The ship set itself down and the hatch opened up. I climbed out and jumped down to take a look. I was in the outskirts of a large city, not one I recognized of course, but a city nonetheless. From what I could tell no one saw the ship arrive, so I was safe there. Reaching behind the legs of the ship, I pressed the button to put it back in capsule form and pocketed the capsule in my pants pocket.

"Well, guess I'll start my search. This could take awhile," I muttered as I walked toward the city. A big sign on a main road caught my interest, as well as a hopeful smile.

"_**Welcome to West City, Home of Capsule Corporation**_"_Good this should be easy, at least the damn ship was on target_. I wisely wrapped my tail around my waist to prevent too much suspicion; I didn't want to be discovered that badly. I noticed something I found odd at first, nothing looked animated here. It looked as normal as my world was, but then I never expected any of this to be real in the first place. Trunks and Bulma had appeared as normal as could be as well, as did Frieza, so I guess it wasn't a huge deal. As I walked along the sidewalk, I noticed some of the cars on the road were much like my world, but some of them were hover-converted as well, something that hadn't been really developed yet where I was from. They didn't look overly durable though, and that reminded me of something else. _I wonder how strong I am right now_, that thought caused me to drift over towards an empty alley. Once out of sight, I lined up with a solid looking concrete building and punched forward. I expected the punch to simply stop at the wall, what I got certainly surprised me. Well it would surprise anyone if your fist went straight through the wall without any give, like the wall wasn't even there, just poof a clean punched out hole. I glanced around quickly to see if anyone saw that. I waited by the fresh hole, glancing between my surroundings and my unblemished fist for a moment or two, and then resumed my course along the street, double-checking to make sure I didn't draw attention. _Note to self, don't punch anyone in anger right now, at least not hard_.

Walking on, I heard loud pops, when I got closer to the source, I recognized them as gunshots. I turned the corner to find some bank robbers firing at a cop car, the cops ducked down behind it shaking in fear. I raised my eyebrow, _now that's a twist; I thought they normally broke down the doors. _ Not totally confident that I could take them, as I hadn't learned any good skills yet, I stayed back and watched the scene unfold. Suddenly a breeze came through and a helicopter came into view and landed close by. I observed a young girl jump out and rush the crooks.

"She's nuts!" I muttered aloud. Then she got in behind them before they could react and kicked the living crap out of each one. Only one of them tried to fight her back, only to get a fist to the gut and kicked in his face in her flurry of action. _Ok maybe not_, I thought as she signaled the cops to come out of hiding and make arrests. I found that even where I was standing, I could hear the conversation relatively easily.

"Thanks Videl, you always seem to get the guys we can't. Must be your blood," one of the cops said.

"No problem Sarge, guess that's what happens when your Dad defeats the evil Cell. I rubbed off from him I guess," she said with a shrug._Oh great, it just had to be Videl, by the look of things I didn't see a caped guy with a helmet so she doesn't know Gohan yet, just great! Oh well, as long as I don't get involved it shouldn't be a problem._ Just as she said that, one of the crooks broke free and took off in full sprint, Videl chased and began to gain, but he had a good head start. The only problem for him was that he was heading my way. I stepped out and stood in his path, waiting for him to get to me, crossing my arms. _Amazing, I could almost feel that staying out plan failing once I saw her. Oh well, too late now. _The crook grinned and pulled his gun out when he saw me, and Videl was looking at me at well.

"Run kid, don't let him catch you!" she shouted. I didn't listen, my blood told me to let him catch me, then tear him up when he did, so I stood my ground. He finally caught up to me, spun behind me and pointed the gun at my head on my right side.

"Hold it right there girlie, or the kid gets it!" he cackled.

Videl skidded to a stop and held her ground, "Just leave the poor boy out of this this! I'll let you go, just drop the gun and go!" she pleaded. _Poor boy huh, she should see that wall I left back there_.

"Why don't you back off and run along, or the small fry gets plastered!" he roared back. _Small fry?_ I wasn't sure if either one of them noticed my initial reaction to that reference, but the words vein pop didn't do it justice. I hated being called small fry, whether I was or not.

I let out a low level growl, which startled both Videl and the crook a little, "Small fry? How about I rip off your small fry and ram it down your goddamn throat! In fact, I hope your medical insurance is paid up, you're about to take a painful trip!" As soon as I finished the statement I grabbed the gun from his hands, and squeezed hard on the barrel. It broke apart in my hands and I let the chunks fall to the ground with the rest of it. That surprised me, I only meant to pull it away. _Yep, the strength is definitely in this body_.

"What the...!" I never let him finish the question and lightly elbowed his gut. When he bent over in pain, I swept his foot, and then nailed him in the face with my backhand. He went sailing back into a brick wall and smashed into it, leaving a nice indent. While I knew that would happen, it sure did feel different actually being able to do it. _Damn, I probably could have killed him if I hit him as hard as I can,_ I thought as I stared at my fist.

Videl came running up, speechless. "How...how did you do that?" She stammered, still shocked.

Knowing what I say might screw something up, "Listen, you never saw me do that, you did it yourself, okay? All I asked is to be taken to Bulma Briefs' place, I don't want any credit anyway. I promise you will find out who I am and how I did that, but not today. Take me to Bulma's place of residence when your finished here and then leave. I don't mean to be difficult, but its important that you do not ask me any questions," I said as calmly as I could, probably sounding even more vague.

"Hey, I deserve to know what happened! I can't just take you to the richest woman in the world just like that! You're obviously very strong, what do you want from her? Better not be anything bad!" Videl said sharply, trying to use her older influence. _Considering her husband, I doubt you have to worry about anything._

"Don't be difficult Videl," I muttered.

"How did you know my name?" she asked. _Doh, quick answer, quick answer!_

"W-well who doesn't right?" I stuttered.

Videl frowned immediately, though she only huffed slightly at it, "Yeah I suppose. So why do you want to see Bulma Briefs so bad?" she asked, crossing her arms. _Damnit, ignore that look, it's like bait!_

"Videl, please don't be difficult, I helped you out there after all. I would never harm a lady, but do you want the next spot on the wall?" I asked.

That stumped her, "Good point, let me finish with the police and I'll take you there. Wait by my chopper!"

I did as she asked once the cops finally rushed over, "Wow Videl, you really did a number on that guy, he'll be glad to be in jail after all that!" The sergeant declared. _Pity they didn't see the real events_.

After about five minutes, Videl came back over to her chopper where I stood. "Ok Get in!" she said, sharp tone again. I did so and we took off, though judging by that stern stare, she wasn't done talking. "So when we get to Bulma's, will you give me information then?" she asked, still pressing.

"I wish I could now, but I can't, sorry. You will probably see me again though, when's the next world martial arts tournament?" I asked, getting a bearing of the area of time, she obviously didn't know Gohan yet.

"About eight months, I bet you would tear the youth division apart," she said. _Damn, eight months till Buu shows up? I didn't think I'd be getting into that kind of fight anytime soon. I hope that it's enough to help, if not Goku will beat him...I hope_._Wait a sec, now that I'm here, that means the timeline will change. I better stick to the script just in case it changes for the worse. So far it hasn't been a pretty start._

"I promise you will meet me again the tournament, but go on like you never met me. Odds are you will learn a lot that day, is that it?" I asked as we approached a big yellow dome.

"Yeah that's it, Capsule Corporation. Do I need to accompany you inside?"

I thought for a moment, "No you don't need to." Videl touched down a few seconds later, long enough to let me out before she actually shut it off.

"Well my helicopter is due for maintenance anyway and I have to come here for it, so I think I will come in anyway!" She said, climbing out and restoring the chopper to capsule form.

I slapped my head when she had her back turned, "Oh great, this is gonna be nice and complicated," I muttered under my breath. We turned to the big yellow dome and began walking to the entrance, all the while hoping the occupants could help me.

**Power levels-These are the maximum's of whatever form and in what situation, its easier then guessing where each one is at every moment.**

**Verto: unknown**

**Frieza: 8,000,000**

**Frieza's goons: 1,000-100,000(varied)**

**Trunks: 57,000,000 Super Saiyan Trunks: 190,000,000**

**Bank Robbers: 25-100 each**

**Videl: 250 **

**Power levels are going to be based on what they were at the Cell games and Buu Saga, so I'll do my best to guesstimate what they should be at different points of my series, if I post them that is.**


	5. First Tests

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 4: First Tests**

Videl hit the buzzer and a tall blond woman answered the door. I grimaced, it was going to take awhile to adjust to being short again.

"Is Bulma available?" Videl asked.

"No I'm sorry, my daughter is visiting her friend Chichi and she wont be back until dinnertime. If it's a mechanical problem my husband is here," Mrs. Briefs said.

"Well my helicopter needs maintenance, this boy here wanted to see Miss Bulma," Videl spoke for me.

Mrs. Briefs looked down at me, "You look just like Trunks, my grandson! Only he has blue eyes and purple hair...well sometimes blond...and his eyes are sometimes green...oh you wouldn't believe the appetite he has...oh and the temper sometimes, just like his father...and..." she rambled. _Wow, she obviously doesn't stop once she gets going._

"Okay, can I see Dr. Briefs then? I'm not sure what to do with him, can he just wait in the lobby or something?" Videl said, stopping the endless banter, and hopefully not catching too much.

"Oh sure, just wait right over there and I'll call my husband to come look at your helicopter," she finally said, pointing out a sofa to sit on. Videl sat down and crossed her arms and legs, waiting impatiently. For some reason I just couldn't sit down, so I leaned on the wall behind the couch, crossing my arms as well and closing my eyes.

"You got a name kid?" Videl asked without turning.

I paused for a second, "Verto."

After a minute or two, Mrs. Briefs came back in, "My husband will see you in a few minutes. So Miss Satan, how goes the crime fighting business?"

Videl shrugged slightly, "Well pretty easy sometimes, most of the bad guys go down in one punch. I get the occasional fighter, but they don't last long, I guess being the daughter of Mr. Satan has its strength perks." All the while, she nervously turned her head towards me, but didn't go much further than that.

"That sounds nice dear, oh shoot Vegeta is going to want lunch anytime now."

"Who's Vegeta?" Videl asked.

"My son in law, kinda cute, but my daughter snagged him quick. I don't know what she saw in him, but I have a grandson because of him so it's ok."

"Oh he's that guy, the one with strange hair that is Miss Bulma's supposed husband, what a creep he is. I really hope he gives me the chance to kick the crap out of him!" Videl stated. On cue I began to hear loud footsteps.

"IN LAW WOMAN! WHERES MY FOOD!" came Vegeta's voice, unmistakable. Sure enough, the Saiyan prince himself rounded the corner to the lobby, by the looks of it, he'd been in training all day long. He didn't pay any notice to me right away, just a glance over. "Who's the girl?" he snapped.

"Videl Satan, in to see Dr. Briefs about her helicopter. Don't mind me, I'll try my best not to stay here too long. At least you're not relentlessly beating your son on the front lawn for the world to see today!" Videl snapped up.

Vegeta smirked, "Girl's got spunk, impressive to see that in the spawn of a coward!"

"My father saved this world and your butt by defeating Cell! I didn't hear of any great Vegeta doing it, where were you during the Cell games, under your bed?" Videl fired back.

"Ringside," Vegeta said. Videl didn't seem to respond to that, just kept her pissed off glare kept on Vegeta. That's when the prince's eyes turned to me, "Who's the kid?" I suddenly felt as if there were fifty or more of him in the room, all staring down at me. It was that intimidating.

"Why does that matter to you jerk? He's here to see your wife, Bulma. Someone with a little class, something you wouldn't know anything about," Videl snapped again. I usually pegged spots of a conversation to jump into, but now it just didn't seem like a good idea.

"This is also my house and I have the right to know who is in it and what their business is, especially if it pertains to my mate! State your business boy!" he demanded. Videl kept her deathly glare on Vegeta, who didn't seem to care as he glared down at me. "Well speak up boy! If its important to my mate, its important to me!" he said, a little louder now.

"Not sure if I can just yet," I said, pointing to Videl, who grunted in response.

"What do you mean boy? Quit being so damned vague!" he shouted. All I did was unravel my tail just a little bit and let him get a good look at it before putting it back around my waist so Videl didn't see. His eyes narrowed a bit, making me wonder if I shouldn't have just come back later. He continued the stare down with me, neither one of us really saying a word, you could've cut the air with a knife cause of all the tension.

"Videl, Dr. Briefs will see you now," Mrs. Briefs said, pointing out the proper hallway.

Videl didn't want to leave, and she voiced her opinion, "You gonna try and beat up this one too?" Vegeta didn't answer her at all, keeping his death glare on me the entire time even as she left.

Vegeta waited until she was gone to speak, "Come with me, boy!" Turning and heading in the opposite direction. I gulped and followed behind Vegeta, but stayed at least five steps away just in case. The incredibly built prince was quite intimidating, my lack of size and age probably didn't help me much. We turned and twisted through the halls of the huge building, until finally coming to a huge metal door with a steering wheel type handle. There was a warning sign on the door, "Warning: Gravity Room! Extreme Pressure! Enter at your own risk!" Well the last part sure held meaning. He opened it and beckoned me to enter. I did, trying not to look too hesitant.

"Calm down boy, your jitteriness is pouring off you," he said as he closed the door.

I suppose it was a little obvious, "Sorry, its been a long time since I've been this nervous," I said as I turned back to face him.

"Well, who are you? You're obviously at least part Saiyan, the tail shows it all," he said, getting to the point. I was still shaking a bit and too jittery to answer, his solid body and bad attitude just seemed to shut me down. Quick as a flash, he had me upside down by my tail, which didn't paralyze me for some reason. Sure it hurt but not like it had when the dog had nipped it, and Vegeta noticed it too, but ignored it. "SPILL IT!" he said, dropping me back down to the hard floor.

"Well there's so much to tell, how about I start with this?" I pulled out the two capsules that Trunks gave me and opened them. When the smoke cleared, the time machine appeared along side a dresser, though at least the dresser didn't fill up the room. Opening the dresser drawers, I found Trunks' armor and the sword, but also a note, written in a different language.

"What language is this?" I said while holding it. Vegeta snatched it away and looked it over, reading it as if he understood it, which he did.

"This is Saiyan language. It's the generally the same as basic, but we use different symbols. My son from the future wrote this and sent it with you, asking for Bulma and I to care for you and enclosed details of your background. Tell me, why is it that he did not come with you? That would've been a lot easier!"

I took a deep breath, "We ran into Frieza when we were leaving my solar system, he was coming for me I think," I said, disclosing the information of the entire encounter before leaving in the time ship.

After getting to the part where I left, he stopped me, "I'm dying to know what you said to Frieza to get him riled up."

I chuckled slightly as I repeated part of the conversation for him:_"Shut your fuckin trap you piece of shit! The only thing your good for is beating up and killing the weak and innocent! You're the most pathetic form of pond scum I've ever seen, go to hell and roast with the rest of the trash!"_

"_Silence child! How dare you speak to the Lord of the Universe in such a way!"_

"_Apparently the only class that's left in this universe is standing on this ship! Kinda hard to be the Lord when you can't beat, what was it you called us? Oh yes, primates! Do us all a favor and go find a hobby, or better yet, another gay alien! You're previous boyfriend obviously found someone better!"_

"_Oh that kid has some spunk son! I don't think I've ever heard anyone insult you like that, oh that's rich!"_

"_Father! I'm trying to conduct business here, you're not helping!"_

"_Oh look, daddy dearest consoling his lonely son! I'd tell you both to go out somewhere and get laid, but I'm not sure you even can! Do you even have women? Must be rough!_"

Vegeta roared in laughter, "I would've loved to see the look on his face when Kold was mocking him!"

"It was priceless," I said, laughing a little now as well. _Wow I got him to laugh already, maybe that's a good sign. _

"So kid, does this mean you have fourteen years more battle experience then you should?" he said. To be honest, I wasn't sure if he was serious or just mocking me.

"No not exactly, I just have been a human adult so I know what its like on the other side of the glass unlike most children. And the only fighting things I know is very basic martial arts I took for two years. This transformation took place, well this morning for me. Trunks never had a chance to train me or anything, and so, I really don't know much about any power I may have," I said, a little solemn.

"Oh there's power there boy, that I'm sure of, you're a Saiyan of full blood. It wont take long to get it out of you, building it up is the real work," he said, smirking at me in a very strange way.

"So now that is out of the way, what next?" Judging by the look in his eye, that was a really stupid question.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. If I don't land a punch, you won't train me?" I asked, unsure.

"That is correct."

"Damn, might as well ask the Namek next time..."I muttered.

"What was that brat!" he yelled.

"I said you better get ready!" I called out as I jumped at him. I lunged at him, eyes a blaze, and started swinging toward his face unbelievably fast and hard. While I had never been able to attack anyone like this, it didn't do any good, not that I expected it to. But I tried as hard as I could anyway, to no avail, each of my blows were blocked or deflected, and very easily I might add. Sometimes I didn't even see what blocked my punches, they just stopped or were shoved aside. I took one final swing, it ended up being the final one because he kicked me in the gut so hard that I literally flew into the far wall and collapsed in a heap.

"So boy, had enough already? You can go stay under the woman's tutelage if you like. The door is right there," he mocked. Not to say any normal person would've had enough, I wasn't as damaged as I should've been. That didn't mean it didn't leave a bruise or two, it most likely did. I stood back up, clearing my head and ignoring the extreme pain in my gut, then set my eyes on him again and walked forward. When I got within three feet I rushed again only to be met by another fist and another dent in the wall formed when I hit it. I could tell he wasn't even trying to hit me and did anyway, I was just too slow. After spitting the blood that had welled in my mouth, I rushed forward again and pulled back my arm like I was going for the face again, but instead went for his stomach and connected. It felt like I had punched the concrete twenty times in a row without rest and without give, his gut was that solid. I didn't really have a chance to register the pain in my hand before I was knocked silly again.

"Good move boy, you actually caught me off guard. Too bad you're too weak to do any damage," he mocked some more, chuckling.

"Mock me all you want, I still landed one," I said, struggling now to get up.

"Hahahaha, that you did boy. Maybe you'll be worth the effort after all. Say, lets test your power level, you may not be able to suppress or increase it, but I'm interested," he said, punching a button on the wall and a panel flipped around. Mounted to it was a genuine Saiyan scouter, probably modified a little due to extremely high levels. He slid it over his eye and ear and punched the button to turn it on. The numbers blipped around for a few seconds, then landed on a number I could not read from where I was. The first thing Vegeta did was look over at the computer panel, then back to me.

"Hmmm, five thousand with no training not bad!" he claimed. _Five thousand? Already? _All of a sudden a loud beeping went off, but it wasn't from the scouter.

Vegeta moved over to the door where a small speaker was mounted on the wall. "What is it?" he shouted into it after pressing a green button.

"Vegeta, can you turn off the gravity machine please? My husband says it needs a tune up and he can't do it while it's on," Mrs. Briefs said. That caught my attention, but I stayed quiet.

"Why can't it wait till later?" he barked back.

"Oh come now Veggie, if you come out just this once I'll cook you and that young man lunch!" she pleaded.

That made my eyes light up, and Vegeta's a little bit, "Get that meal ready woman!"

"Ok, come to the kitchen in about five minutes please," she said cheerfully, despite his sour tone.

"You hungry boy?"

I smiled, "Did you have to ask?" He smirked slightly and punched a few buttons on another panel next to the speaker. A few seconds later I did feel lighter, despite a few painful soon to be bruises. "Wait, you had extra gravity on?" I asked.

"It took you that long to notice?" he asked.

"Yes, I never really noticed it till now after you decked me so damn hard!"

His eyes narrowed, "Interesting, lets go eat," he said, heading out the door as he opened it and shut it behind me. Vegeta lead the way to the kitchen through the extra large home. He kept a slow pace, despite the fact that his stomach growling like crazy and almost in tune with my own.

"Hey Vegeta? Exactly how much gravity did you have on anyway?" I asked.

He looked down at me, then back forward again, "Just five times Earth's normal gravity, there must be a great power lurking in you for you to not even notice the greater pressure and yet are not even able to use your ki yet. That and your level measured at Saiyan elite levels without training. We will seek its depths eventually, for now we stick to basics," he finished. I was about to say something more, but the thick smell of food curbed my thoughts to it._ That much without training, just how strong am I?_ I shook my head at this semi-impressive number, right now it still didn't stack up anywhere close to any other notable fighter.

* * *

We entered a large dining room connected to a large kitchen. The table was huge, probably due to abundance of food that it could hold. Then a robot came from the kitchen, carrying plates and bowls, then another carrying the same.

"Bet those are handy," I whispered.

"Yes they are, make great punching bags, hahaha," Vegeta said aloud reminding me about his good Saiyan hearing. He pointed to a chair for me to sit in, he took the other side, "Dig in." That was all the motivation I needed for this large meal in front of us. As I began hauling down food, I noticed Vegeta looking at me with a strange look upon his face, like he was trying to figure something out.

"Tell me boy, how long have you had that tail again?"

I stopped momentarily, "Well this is my second day with it, I woke up to it yesterday."

"Well surely you or someone squeezed it, did anything happen?" he asked, a little louder now.

"My dog nipped it once. It hurt like hell when she did, but other than that all I've noticed was the high sensitivity," I said, trying to see his point.

"I had you by the tail earlier and you were able to move and speak. Granted I didn't squeeze it hard at all, but it takes years to develop immunity to the paralyzing effects of squeezing one's tail, care you explain that?" He had me there, I had no clue how that could've happened.

"Maybe it was the total change last night..." I muttered my thoughts aloud, again forgetting his hearing.

"Your change should not have done that. While I don't quite understand everything about what may have turned you into one of us, nothing should be that much different. You have all the attributes a Saiyan should have, except for the tail. Only one who has trained hard enough could be rid of that weakness!" he barked.

"Well the change shouldn't have made me seven years old again either, but it did. Maybe it was that pill the other Bulma gave me, she said that she had helped someone who had my case with a similar formula to change in your sleep. But it became unstable when his Saiyan cells and blood tried to accelerate to his body's age and it messed up his head and made him crazy, something like that. Maybe making a new body based on the Saiyan genetics and not the human ones are what kept mine stable."

Vegeta looked at me funny, "Did my woman have twins and not tell me, because you're pretty damn smart."

"Not intentionally, on my world people treat you differently if you act like you have any source of brains. Can't have brains running around, he may say something that makes sense someday. If our world was full of smart ones, it would probably fall apart. Besides I'm not smart, I just pay attention," I said, a little sad.

"That does not make any rational sense," he said with distaste.

"A lot of it didn't make sense. Example, we had a religious war start up way back, hell I don't know when. And it was still going thousands of years later, when I...left," I suddenly lost my appetite when the image of Earth blowing up reappeared in my head. I turned in my chair and stared off into space, letting my sorrow fill me, I was very homesick.

Vegeta's hand clamped down on my shoulder, "For what its worth, I know what its like to lose a home world. The only thing you can do is fight for the next one you enter."

Wiping a tear from my eye, I looked up at him and carefully responded, "But Trunks said you've destroyed worlds under Frieza's rule, that doesn't make you any better!" I said.

He looked back toward a wall, "No that was not me, that was an arrogant young fool, his own quest for revenge destroyed his life. I've changed from that idiot's path, ironically thanks to Kakarot, who is my greatest rival," he said. Now that was big of Vegeta to say, it was also short lived.

"Are you done eating yet? There's something I want to try," he said, back to normal.

"Yeah, lost my appetite thinking too much."

"Good, come with me." I followed him before he suddenly stopped at the door, "Trunks didn't give a name, what is yours?"

"Uh, Verto," I said quickly following my hesitant pause. Vegeta seemed to stiffen for an instant. "What is it, is that name special or something?"

"No, nothing special. I just wasn't expecting a Saiyan name. Come on, let's go!"

* * *

I followed through the halls again, trying to figure out how the hell a person could get used to this mansion like home. We kept going until the hallway we were in, ended at a door. He opened it, revealing a large field outside, but it had scorch marks all over it, probably used it for training.

"Stand out there, anywhere, and do not move," he ordered. I ran out to the field, standing in somewhat the middle of it, waiting for his next order. But instead of saying anything, he held his palm up, and I observed white lightning crackling around it, he was charging an energy blast of some sort. A white ball appeared, hovering over his palm.

Then he threw it into the sky, "MOON BLAST EXPLODE!" _Oh shit_, I covered my eyes immediately, whether it had an effect or not.

"Open your eyes boy, and look at it!" Vegeta shouted.

"No, I know what will happen, and I don't want to hurt anyone, but then I won't have a choice if I change, will I? You'll probably have to kill me if I'm as powerful as I might be, isn't that right?" I yelled back, still not looking at the fake moon. I may not have gotten an eyeful, but I sure as hell felt it on my back, like warm sunlight. I began fighting my body just to not look at it.

Vegeta scowled at me, "Well boy, I can blow that false moon up quickly if you do change! You wont even have a chance to do anything, so you might as well get it over with because if you don't, I will force you to look. Quit being a coward and embrace your heritage!"

_Fine, I hope I break your damn neck you prick!_ I dropped the restraint, turned, and looked up. Right away I felt something happen, like someone inside me had pushed the button no one should touch. My body began to shake a little, my skin became prickly when the fur began to grow. I felt four sharp teeth grow out of my gums and poke my tongue as fangs. My face began to stretch and pull outward, into a long, doglike snout. My arms began to shudder as muscle growth expanded. The tint in my eyes changed as well, everything I saw turned a shade of blue and green. Just as quickly as the transformation began, it ended and I was standing there, completely changed. But something was wrong, I seemed to be completely aware and had complete control over myself. I realized that I was not any bigger than I had been, but I was covered in fur and still wearing my gi. I felt like I could pick up a building and throw it without any trouble. It wasn't unlike how I had woken up, full of energy like before, but much more so.

I looked back at Vegeta, the look on his face was one of shock, "WHAT THE HELL?!" he shouted.

"That was my question," I said, noticing I sounded like I had a serious frog in my throat.

"From what I can tell, you didn't grow at all, but you have all the features a transformed Saiyan should have! Even the power and strength. But your in complete control of yourself as well, odd, I've never heard of a transformation like this," he said, still in shock.

"That makes two of us, the only thing other than looks that feels weird is this sudden urge to destroy something," I said.

"That is normal, but you should be huge. What the hell did she put in that pill of hers," he growled.

"Whatever it was, I'm glad she did," I bellowed, marking this as a seriously lucky break, "As much as I don't enjoy this, could you change me back now?" I asked.

"For now, we will visit this form again. I sense incredible hidden power for such a youngster that isn't trained, easily a hundred times larger than your regular state. When we try this again, is when I decide, don't mention anything to the woman or anyone else!" he barked again, firing a small blast at the fake moon, destroying it. As the moon faded, my body changed again, this time feeling like I was imploding as my snout shrank back into my normal face and the fur receded to the depths of my skin. Back to normal, I stood there, shaking a little, my head foggy.

Vegeta walked up, "Well are you just going to stand there or what?" I never got a chance to answer him because my body got heavy and my legs collapsed, sending my face first into the dirt, and into sleep. "Well at least that is normal," I heard him say as I blacked out.

**Power levels **

**Verto: 5,000; Semi-Great Ape: 500,000 **

**Vegeta: 50,000,000**


	6. A New Family

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 5: A New Family**

I woke up in a dark room, lying on a couch. I heard a voice coming from a door on the other side of the room. I stood and walked towards the door and listened to the sound of Vegeta's voice barking at someone, but that someone I could not hear.

"Listen woman, I need you to come back tonight ...no its not for sex! No its an important matter not to be discussed on the phone...no just come back and leave Trunks with Kakarot's woman...no its not for sex! Fine, if I tell you, will you come back and not say a word about it to anyone yet? I discovered another Saiyan...no it arrived this afternoon...no its a boy...what do you mean did I cheat on you? Argh, just get here woman...fine!" SLAM! "Damned woman is going to be the death of me..."

He opened the door and I fell forward. "Well well, back from the dead already! Took you long enough, there went five hours of training time I could of had rather than looking after your corpse while you slept!" he yelled in a mocking tone.

"Thanks for caring," I muttered, getting up and sitting back down on the couch. Vegeta flicked a light switch to lighten the room, then sat in a chair directly across from me and stared me down once again.

After a minute or two he spoke up, "The woman is on her way back here. We need to discuss things about your arrival, and where you will be staying."

"Okay, whatever you two decide," I said in an ugly tone that I knew he would notice, but I didn't care.

"You still sour about the transformation?" he asked, a little lighter now.

"Yes and no, I didn't really want to find out that badly. But I am sort of glad you did it, because now I know I wont turn into a giant killing machine without regard to life," I said, lightening up a little myself.

"Humph, soft hearted. For what its worth, I apologize, but I had to know what you may be capable of. I have a better idea now, and I know I can get a Super Saiyan out of you. That was made clear to me after the gravity incident," he said. _ Vegeta, apologizing, I must have hit him harder than I thought._

"So when do we start my training?" I asked, a little anxious to explore the depths of my potential once he mentioned the Super Saiyan part.

"Most likely tomorrow, maybe the day after. The woman will probably want to run a bunch of stupid tests on you rather than taking my word for it."

"Oh joy, just what I needed," I said in a sarcastic tone.

He snorted a bit, "I agree, it is a ridiculous waste of time." With that said, he clicked on the TV on the far side of the room, just in time for the news. After hearing the story of some convict gone to jail, he suddenly sat up.

"Perhaps you can answer something for me since you know what it is to be a human, I still don't understand why human news reporters are so damned nosy. On any other world they would die for some of the things they do to get a story. The only thing that saves this planet's reporters is my mate. If I had my way about it they would've all been destroyed by now."

"Another mystery of life I guess, reporter's piss me off too, but now that I can do something about them..." I laughed a little, rubbing my hands together.

Vegeta smirked, "Good, there is a mean streak in there somewhere, you and my brat may get along rather well." I returned the glance, which had Vegeta suddenly flashing with slight fear for some reason, then turned back to the TV for the sports.

All of a sudden Vegeta turned his head, toward the door, then back to the TV, "What the hell is that coward's girl still doing here?"

"Coward's girl? Oh, you mean Videl?" I asked.

"Yes that's it, damned harpy is wondering the halls. She did that last time when she saw me hand out punishment to my brat on the front lawn, and then I drug him inside for training. She had all kinds of child protection people out here the next day, damn girl is going to get herself killed snooping around like that!"

I glanced back at the door, and then to Vegeta again, "I didn't know Videl was a reporter."

"HAHAHAHA, good one boy, your a regular comedian," Vegeta laughed.

"Me and my father used to make fun of random things all the time. Reporters were a common target, along with just about any idiot that walked by. Ah, those were good times," I smiled at the memories.

"Sounds like more than my father ever did with me, all I got was severe training, and if I misbehaved I was taken to the courtyard and beaten to show me that royalty does not have time for childhood," Vegeta scowled. _Is he going to be this out of character the whole time? Talk about changes in the timeline. Maybe he's just getting to know me or something._

"I don't know if I could've been able to stand that, but I only saw my father every two weeks or so, my parents were divorced," I explained, keeping with the topic.

"Divorced? I don't think I'm familiar with that earth term," he said, confused.

"Well you understand marriage right?" A nod followed. "Divorce is like permanent separation, the marriage isn't working out and the couple drifts apart and eventually fight with each other. The couple splits and each moves on in life without the other, quite often the child or children are caught in the middle. My parents separated when I was four, my mother raised me for the most part, but me and my dad were so alike that she got sick of me sometimes."

"If you were a natural born Saiyan on our home planet, your parents would be mates forever. The only separation that was legal was by death, and in most cases the other one died within two years. When I get around to explaining Saiyan bonds I will include the mating rituals," Vegeta said. I raised an eyebrow at the term _mating rituals_, but he shrugged it off.

A knock came at the door, but Vegeta didn't even turn, "ENTER!" Videl stormed in, Mrs. Briefs right behind her, trying to get her to turn around and failing.

"So Vegeta, when is Miss Bulma going to be here?" she said in a stone cold voice, glancing over at me, then back to Vegeta.

"Why is that any concern of yours?" he barked, not looking up from the news. _Okay, he's feeling better now._

"Well I am a member of West and Satan City SWAT teams so I have certain flexibility when it comes to investigating questionable situations! And I brought this boy here to see Bulma, not you. I saw you drag him back in the building, and he looked quite roughed up. I want to know what you did to him. You beat him up like your own son didn't you? If so I will arrest you right now, the news and police may consider you the most dangerous man in the world, but you got nothing on me!" _Oh boy_, I thought to myself, realizing how much danger she just tossed herself into. So I jumped up to explain, hoping to appeal to her martial arts side.

"No Videl you got it wrong, we were having a sparing match and I slipped and hit my head on a rock, just an accident," I said, holding my hands up.

"You sure about that? This guy has been known to beat up random people for no reason at all. The only reason no one has ever brought him in is because all of the police around West City are afraid of him after he blew up the city park with one of his tricks. He claimed to be sparring with his son then too. In case you forgot, I was there to see you tear up that crook earlier, I doubt a little rock would knock you out!" Videl proclaimed as she looked me straight in the eye, searching for a hint of false information.

"Well I did spar with him, I just slipped and hit my head on a big rock, that's all!" I lied, unfortunately my tail was beginning to twitch around my waist, but not unraveling just yet.

"Okay, but if there's a problem, you call me up. I would love nothing more than to put Vegeta here in his place behind bars," Videl said loudly, handing me a card with a phone number on it.

"Alright Videl, thank you." I said, sitting back down, trying to mentally calm my tail down before it did something it shouldn't.

Unfortunately, Videl wasn't finished, "So kid, you know where you're staying? I can give ya a ride home if you want?" she asked, in a slightly sweeter tone.

"The boy is staying here, no need for a ride in that contraption of yours," Vegeta snarled, coming back into the conversation.

"What about his parents? What will they think of that?" she fired back.

Vegeta was very quick on the reasoning though, "The boy is my nephew, he is staying here because his parents passed away not long ago," he said, twisting the story a little, but partially true.

"I find that hard to believe that the richest couple in the world couldn't have sent a car or plane for him to get here then. Besides I thought you didn't know who he was," Videl said, showing that she sure didn't miss the facts.

"He lived out in the country side near your Satan City and they did not have a vehicle or a means of communication set up yet, and I have not seen him for six years. So obviously at his age I would not recall his face right away. You want any more information, or will you finally mind your own damn business?" Vegeta growled an answer.

"Excuse me for caring, see you later kid. I'll drop by sometime to check on you, never know what this maniac may do." Videl gave me a wink, and then exited the room, stomping down the hallway.

"Well, that could've gone better, thanks for coming up with that story." I said.

"Better I make that up, then for her to see your twitch crazy tail down there. Just what I need, the woman breathing down my neck after blowing up another human for seeing something they shouldn't. I really don't care if someone finds out that I'm not from this world, but the nagging of those reporters and the pathetic excuse for an army will pester me," he snarled, ending the subject.

I heard another door open and slam in another part of the huge house, followed by a loud feminine scream, "VEGETA!"

I winced at the noise, he just scowled, "Here we go, stay here for now. I'll bring her here after explaining the situation," Vegeta said, getting up and leaving the room. While he was gone, I flipped through the TV stations to find a football game on, something I wasn't sure they had on this world. Unfortunately the playing was very sloppy compared to my Earth. Hell the runner made a break away and slipped on his shoelaces, then the defense caught up with him and fell before they got him, it was that pathetic. While watching the game, I kept hearing random shouts and screams, some were female in nature, others belonged to Vegeta. _This could take awhile_.

After about ten minutes of sloppy offence vs. sloppy defense, I simply shut it off. Almost immediately, Bulma herself walked in the door with Vegeta. I stood up quickly as she came in. Right away I saw why most people tried to get a date with her, she was gorgeous, much more so than her older counterpart. Unfortunately she had the husband from hell and most of them probably didn't get much of a glance without getting killed. The age difference sure had a big effect on my mind though and I paid no real heed to her appearance, though it was very noticeable. While I had seen the future version of her not long ago, the lack of age was very apparent.

"So this is the Saiyan, Vegeta? Where'd he come from?" she asked while looking down on me a sharp glare. That told me that Vegeta didn't get much of a chance to explain anything to her.

Vegeta turned and left the room, "I'm going to get your precious evidence woman, and he can explain himself to you."

"ARGH! Sorry he can be a royal pain sometimes, literally. Have a seat and explain how you got here," Bulma said, still being cautious, but gentler.

"You remember your future son? He and the future you ran across me three days ago in on my world..." I began with our meeting, then my transformation, then the space battle and ending with running into Videl and getting to Capsule corp. Through it all I did my best not to reveal anything that I knew about this world other than what Trunks could have told me. She took it all in quite well before asking any questions, then of course she drilled me for a solid five minutes. She hit me with everything, my name, what I was like before, how many fights I had been in, and so on. Finally she stopped the questions about me and started on information on Trunks.

"So where is my future son now?" she asked, calmer now.

"Sorry, I don't know. He practically threw me into the time machine and hit the button, all I saw was Frieza's goons coming after him before I was thrown into the dimensional stream."

She looked down then back up, "He's ok, I know he is, Trunks can take care of himself, future and present." Just as she said that, Vegeta came back in with the time machine capsule and Trunks' dresser with his sword and armor. She took them and placed them in a tiny container full of capsules put it on a table.

Then her face- hardened again, "Vegeta, I want that tail removed," she demanded. I cringed slightly and backed away.Fortunately I didn't have to run for my life...errr my tail as Vegeta spoke up.

"Woman, he wont transform like that, we tried already. Nothing happened with my fake moon ball, and he does not get paralyzed when you squeeze his tail, so just leave it on," he claimed. Bulma kept her look on me before turning to him, obviously looking for fault in that statement. I didn't dare turn my head to Vegeta to show how false that lie was, but then again, not much did happen so there was barely anything to hide.

When finally she did turn to Vegeta, she didn't buy it at all, "I've never heard of a Saiyan that didn't transform with his tail, I can always tell when you're lying Vegeta. You're frankly not good at it, plus I can sense your thoughts thanks to that mystic mojo crap you always talk about!" she shouted at him.

Vegeta growled at his failure, "Woman, there is no danger, he did not transform like he should of, will that do? He didn't turn into a giant ape or destroy anything, and no one saw a thing so there is nothing to worry about! Besides, it is dishonorable for a Saiyan to lose his tail for such a pitiful reason."

Bulma couldn't find a lie embedded in the truth that time, "Fine, he can keep the tail, he just better keep it hidden whenever he is out of the house! Got that!" she yelled the last one directly into my face.

I gulped, "Yes ma'am."

"Good, now if you will come with me, I require a blood sample," she said, turning and motioning for me to follow.

* * *

_Great, needle city_. Mind you I am not bad about needles like some people, I will actually stay still until it's done, but that doesn't mean I like them any better. I followed her slowly, Vegeta did as well. Soon we reached what looked like a medical lab, mostly the typical things, but also two round tanks in the middle of the room.

"Are those regeneration tanks?" I asked not realizing I may have just slipped badly.

Vegeta chuckled, "Maybe he is my kid, he's damned smart."

Bulma scowled, "Doubt it Vegeta, you have to have a brain first to claim that kind of genetic intelligence!" Vegeta's eyes shot open, but quickly closed again while he growled random words under his breathe. "Okay kid, hop up on this table." I did as she asked, noticing there were arm restraints on the table, but paid no heed as I wouldn't need them. Then of course she wrapped them around my limbs.

"Um Bulma, you said its just a blood sample right? I've had those before, and they may not be fun, but I wont thrash around either," I said.

"You had them when you were human, not a Saiyan! You will be thrashing because all of you Saiyans do it, not to mention the fact that it may take twenty broken needles before I even break your skin. Even the prince himself thrashes to a needle, isn't that right Vegeta?" She glared up for an answer.

Vegeta scowled, "Only because you stab all your patients, reckless woman!"

"Stay still next time and I wont thrust so hard!" she screamed back while tying the tourniquet around my arm and finding a vein quickly. "Now take Vegeta's hand and just squeeze it, just don't break it off. I wouldn't want to have to deal with his bitching for a month while it heals," she continued. I took Vegeta's hand and held on tight as she lowered her first needle down to my skin. She was right, my body wanted to thrash, no matter how much control I had. My legs began to shake before I remembered to just squeeze Vegeta's hand like a bite down stick. As soon as she tried to push the first needle, it shattered, as did the second. The metal fragments stung me sharply as they tried to get into my skin pours. My other arm was shaking sharply because I was squeezing Vegeta's hand so damn hard. I couldn't understand why I was shaking so much either, it didn't hurt that bad. After four more broken needles, Bulma finally got what she wanted as needle number seven got through, by that time I was sure that I couldn't control myself much longer. But she finished quickly and pulled the needle out, a fresh sample of blood in the tube.

"Why don't I just beat him up next time, its what we had to do to Trunks when he flew away from it," Vegeta suggested, releasing his hand from my now iron like grip.

"Do you want to go through another month without sex again?" Bulma asked him.

That shut him up, "I'll be in the gravity room, we start training in two days boy, get your rest," he said, turning to leave. As he walked out of the room, I saw him look at his hand in question.

"Typical," Bulma snorted, "Well I promised Chichi, Goku's wife, that I would be back to her house by supper time, want to come with? You'll have to meet her sooner or later, that and Gohan, Trunks, and Goten. I needed a replacement for Vegeta anyway, all he ever does when he's over there is beat up the boys with their training matches."

"Yeah sure, guess I don't have anything better to do right now," I said as she unlocked the restraining bars.

"Good, I'll just go call her back and tell her to prepare for another guest, she has to cook a ton of food anyway," Bulma squealed a bit as she went to a nearby phone that lay hung on the wall. As she began talking to Chichi, I suddenly got a very eerie feeling that something wasn't right. Very quickly I felt as if something was trying to attack me from behind, so I spun quickly and somehow blocked an incoming foot aiming right for my head. The foot had a bootie for a shoe, followed by dark blue pants. The person whom the foot belonged to was huge, as I kept looking up I saw a blue colored belt and then a white cape. On top was a green head with a turban on it.

"Piccolo! What are you doing here!" Bulma shouted from the background, having just hung up the phone.

"Just checking out the new power level I felt down here, are you and Vegeta not satisfied with one child?"

"Very funny, I'll remember that line when you want to borrow the dragon radar! Don't worry kido, he's all talk and bad looks," Bulma said, coming up beside me. I was still frozen in awe of the awesome Namek, he just smirked slightly, back stepping.

"So where did he come from then? He does not resemble Vegeta or you. If anything he looks most like Gohan and maybe Trunks."

Bulma frowned, "Well with his brains he should! But anyway he arrived here by the help of the other Trunks, surely you remember him." So story-telling part fifty continued, this time for Piccolo. He too wanted to cut my tail off before being assured I wouldn't transform.

"Well kid, welcome aboard, who will be training him?" Piccolo asked, as if that was the most important thing to know.

"Vegeta wants to I guess, his new pet project for now," Bulma answered.

"Well, I could lend out the Hyperbolic Time chamber. We used the dragonballs a few months ago to remove the limitations on it so anyone can stay in there as long as they want. I figured why not since most of us had used it once or twice already. That way it won't take very long for him to get trained, you never know when there will be a battle. I'll let Vegeta know." With that said, Piccolo turned and floated down the hallway toward the gravity room.

"Well, let's head to Goku's house. We can take my plane, I doubt you know how to fly yet anyway," she said with a grin. I shook my head no, and followed her out the lab door and toward the main lobby. Out the front door we went to the street, where she pulled a capsule out of her pocket and opened it, revealing a small, two-seated plane.

"Hop in Verto," she said. I paused at the new name again as I climbed in, but shrugged it off. She fired it up and took off into the air, and I relaxed in my seat once she got to the altitude she liked.

"So, the other me turned you into a kid again so Trunks could have a brother? Is that really what she said?" Bulma laughed.

"Afraid so, she tried to back it up with the unstable theory also, guess I'll never know which one is true. Honestly I think maybe she missed having a small child around, I know some mothers are like that," I said, head down.

"Well you can certainly call me Mom if you want, and Trunks will be excited to have a brother. He's always jealous of Gohan and Goten. Plus you're right around their age, so this will cheer him up quite a bit. I'd love to have you as an honorary son, its kinda my fault anyway right?" She smiled.

"Afraid so, MOTHER." I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Okay SON! Its official, Verto Briefs, has a ring to it," Bulma...err Mom said. Somehow it felt right to call her that. While she couldn't replace my real mother, she could at least fill the gap.

**Power levels not an issue**


	7. Fitting In

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 6: Fitting in**

"There it is, that house down there with the light on in the dome," Bulma, I mean, Mom pointed out. Almost the instant she touched the plane down, the door flew open. Two blurs with the names Goten and Trunks came tearing out of there with bright smiles.

"Where's my new brother?" "Yeah I wanna see him too!" came the shouts.

"How'd they know already?" Mom asked under her breath. That's when I noticed a dim white vapor trail from the side of the house.

"I think we can blame a certain Namek for that one," I pointed to the sky. The instant, and I mean the instant I was out of the plane, Trunks and Goten surrounded me.

"Hi, you're my new brother right? I'm Trunks, this is Goten!" he said, excitedly shaking my hand and arm till I thought it would fall out.

"Do you wanna play hide and seek? Gohan can't ever play 'cause mom makes him study," Goten asked.

"Hey can you fly yet? I can show ya how to!" Trunks declared. The questions continued, one right after another.

Mom finally cut in, "That's enough boys, you will have plenty of time to train and play after dinner."

"DINNER!" they both fazed into hungry mode and made a beeline for the house.

"One track minds, I give them about five seconds." Mom muttered.

"Till wha..."I started to ask. That's when the boys came running out twice as fast, and a crazy shrieking woman followed quickly with a frying pan in the air.

"Now stay out until I'm finished! Or no dinner for either of you!" Screeched a woman who stepped into the light to reveal herself as Chichi. Quite a pretty woman in her own rights, but also largely menacing.

"And what do we have here Bulma? Is this your new adopted son?" she asked, peering down at me, "Hello there, I'm Chichi, Goten and Gohan's mother. I'm afraid Piccolo didn't give me your name, he never was one for manners," She said, looking me over.

"Its Verto, Miss Chichi," I held out my hand to shake hers. Instead of taking it, she scowled when my tail nervously unraveled itself.

"Are you going to have that removed Bulma?" she asked.

"Well Vegeta says he wont transform, or at least normally, whatever that meant," Mom said.

"He better not. Can you give me a hand with dinner Bulma? It's hell trying to cook and hold off the boys at the same time," Chichi said, standing up.

"Sure, Verto you can stay out here and get to know the boys, it'll distract them," Mom said, giving me a little shove in the direction of the boys, who were currently darting around bushes so not to be seen. _Yeah this'll remind me of trying to blend in during high school, only I'm a weakling around super strong kids who could kill me with a breath_. I sighed and headed in their direction as Mom went into the house behind Chichi.

"Hey new kid, you wanna play hide and seek now? It's real easy, you just suppress your energy and hide and then whoever is it tries to find you and tag you," Trunks asked when I approached. _Training games, wonderful._

"Well I'd love to except I can't sense or use energy yet. Vegeta doesn't start training me till the day after tomorrow, and besides, I doubt I could catch or get away from you guys, not fast enough," I said.

Trunks smirked, "Oh that's ok, we'll play fair! It'll get your speed up when you have to run really fast." I could tell by that smirk that he was up to something.

"Oh alright, its been years since I played anyway. Just try to find me with your eyes and ears, that way I'll have a chance. I used to be really good at this game, by human standards," I said, already looking around for hiding spots.

"Well you heard him Goten, you're it first!"

"Ahhhh, but how come? I'm always it first!" Goten whined.

"Because stupid..." Trunks whispered in his ear, and got a big smile in return. _Great, now the tots are plotting embarrassment_.

"That well is base, the count is to fifty, GO!" With that said I made a beeline in the other direction, running impossibly fast for a human, but more than likely slow to them. I jumped back behind a tree and crouched down, watching and listening for a chance to run back to the well. Naturally, Trunks was nowhere to be found, probably in a different direction. Once I heard the last count, Goten immediately looked in my direction. _So much for fair_, I thought. But then he took off in the other direction, phasing out from moving so fast. _Well now or never_, I thought as I jumped as far from the tree as I could and landed ten feet from the well, reaching it seconds later. _At least I don't have to worry about bad landings until I go sky high_. Then I waited as I saw no one around, but then I heard something, like wind. That wind being Goten trying to catch Trunks in a blur across the yard.

Trunks blew past me, "Hey base isn't safe when we play, sorry forgot to mention its till the first person is tagged that the round continues!" Goten was coming right at me as my eyes lit up like a deer in the headlights. _Oh that's nice to know_! With that thought I ran up to and around the house with Goten gaining quickly. I had barely round the first corner when I felt him catch me, which turned into a tackle when he forgot to stop. We tumbled in the dirt for about forty feet when we finally came to a stop.

I got up right away and dusted my gi off, "Hey Goten, use the brakes next time!"

"Brakes? What do those do?" he asked, that famously clueless grin on his face.

"Its an expression for when you stop really fast, just remember to stop next time you tag me."

"Oh okay!" he said, cheerful as ever while he got up and ran back to the base. "Verto's it! Verto's it!" came the chant. I really didn't mind that I had been tagged first, I was more relieved that Goten didn't leave a serious injury behind, the damn kid was like a freight train when he hit me.

"Fine, fifty right? One...two...three..." I started to count. I didn't hear much when I was counting so I prepared for them to be very close. "Fifty! Ready or not, here I come!" I turned up right away and saw nothing. Carefully moving about, I scanned the area for any movement or sound, none. I rounded the house and still nothing._Damn these two are good_.

"Looking for something?" came a voice. I turned around and looked up to see the teen version of Gohan himself right behind me. "Hey there, your the new kid Piccolo mentioned aren't you? I'm Gohan."

"Verto," I said, reaching up and shaking his hand.

"So squirt, Whatcha doing right now?"

"Playing hide and seek with Trunks and Goten, can't seem to find them right now. I'm starting to make me wonder if they're sticking to fairness, and don't call me squirt," I said, looking around.

"Well you must not be very good at this game, they're not that hard to find," Gohan chuckled as he glanced around.

"Well, it's not like I can or anything yet."

"In that case, tag me, I'll even the odds for you," he said with a smirk.

I did so, and then yelled out, "Gohan's it!" At once he phased out and darted ahead. Right away two small blurs popped out of the treetops and flew away from him. But he was way too fast and caught both of them in an instant.

"I believe these are the culprits," he said, touching back down with the boys in each hand by the scruff of their gi's.

"No fair Gohan! You weren't even part of the game!" Goten and Trunks both whined.

"And neither was flying and ki sense, now were they?"

They both looked down, "No, sorry."

"No big deal guys, when I can play at that level. I'll beat you both at your own game!" I challenged.

"Oh yeah, well see about that!" Goten and Trunks both declared. It was no wonder they could fuse so easily, their thoughts were so alike.

"Dinner's ready!" Mom's voice sounded. Before another word was said, the boys were gone, literally vanished.

"C'mon now, lets get there before the food is gone!" Gohan said, walking to the house, I followed.

* * *

When we entered the house and dining room, I noticed that Trunks and Goten were both cowering in the corner, due to Chichi's frying pan ready to go in her hands. She pointed to where I should sit down, she dropped her guard and moved on. The boys were already sitting and scarfing once she moved. I began my quick eating as well, trying not to overdo it though, I didn't need to look like a total pig. In the end it didn't matter because I had to eat faster to be able to get more food at the rate Gohan and the boys were going.

"So Verto, was there any strong fighters on your world?" Gohan asked.

"Not like here, most of them probably couldn't give Mr. Satan a fight, that and sporting competition was more popular than fights," I said, realizing that I slipped on knowing of Mr. Satan already. Luckily no one really noticed, or seemed to care.

"What kind of sports did you like?" Gohan asked again.

"Football was my fav, but I couldn't play, too many muscle pulls and tears. I went bowling a lot though, great game because you didn't have to be good to play. Went swimming when I could. Hockey was another decent one, baseball is okay, but I don't enjoy watching it. I would rather play, football and hockey you could watch and enjoy easily like you were in the game," I explained.

"Football, what a stupid game..." I heard Trunks mutter. CLANG! And a large bump appeared on Trunks' head thanks to a frying pan hit from Chichi.

"Trunks Briefs, mind your manners!" she scolded.

"Well Trunks, I can see your opinion, I saw one of this world's football games earlier, I can safely say that ours looked much better. The players didn't play so sloppy not to mention more diverse playing styles, that and we had three different levels to watch, High School, College, and Pro. I didn't like Pro as much as the other two, the players were only there for money and they didn't seem play with any heart or pride in the game." _Damn, now they got me babbling when I almost slipped back there, better be careful_. _Doesn't really help that Trunks is being this rude though. _

"Probably cause they suck, but at least that stupid crap isn't on TV much." CLANG! Bump number two appeared on Trunks' head.

"What about that bowling game you mentioned Verto?" Gohan asked, changing the subject, "I think I've heard of that here, but training to save the world all the time kinda distracts you."

"Well the basic idea is you have this long lane about three feet wide..." I began explaining bowling to them.

After finishing, Trunks opened his mouth again, "Doesn't sound so hot, I bet I could bowl one of those perfect games every time. Man what a waste of time!" Yeah he got it again, CLANG! Trunks started to show his headache now. I stared at Chichi's large metal object, hoping I could keep myself in check so not to be struck with one.

"Well Trunks, I've never bowled 300 myself, 230 was my highest, about a year ago. I remember that night because my mother and my college roommates were swearing up and down they would beat the crap out of me by score and the opposite happened," I smiled at the memory.

"We'll have to try that sometime Verto, sounds interesting if you actually have to focus to get any kind of score." Gohan suggested.

"Just try not to break the pins with your strength, I kinda did that about a week ago," I added, rubbing my head sheepishly.

"Still sounds stupid, the time to play that dumb game would be spent better on training or playtime," Trunks muttered loudly.

"Yeah Trunks, it sounds really weird. I bet only retards play that game!" Chichi managed to hit them both with one swing.

"Trunks, do I need to have Chichi teach you etiquette again? You're being rude just like your father and that mouth needs retrained I think." Mom asked with a beaming look.

Trunks' face paled, "No mom, I'll behave."

"Good, I wouldn't want to bend my skillet anymore than I have to, now are you all staying here tonight?" Chichi asked.

"Sure Chichi, you have the room for us all?" Mom asked. While Chichi, Mom, and Gohan were discussing the sleeping arrangements, I noticed Trunks whisper into Goten's ear, resulting in an evil smile. _Great, what are the twin terrors planning now_? It ended up being me and the boys in the living room, couches and sleeping bags on the floor. Bulma and Chichi set up another bed in the master bedroom and of course Gohan got his own room.

"Now you boys have a good night's rest," Mom said, tucking Trunks and I in while Chichi did Goten.

"Goodnight!" We all said at once. I immediately tossed and turned a bit, I never did like being tightened down underneath a blanket. Finally turning and lying on my stomach, I let my tail loose from around my waist and let it roam by itself for a while. Laying my head on the pillow Chichi provided, I drifted off to sleep slowly, thinking about how wild the past two days had been.

**Power levels (even though they don't really matter at this point)**

**Verto: 5,000**

**Goten: 13,000,000 **

**Trunks: 15,000,000 **

**Gohan: 45,000,000 **

**A/N: I know that we barely see Chichi using a weapon known as the frying pan of terror, it's usually something else that she strikes with. However for a humor standpoint I put it in, it won't come up as much as in other stories, just where appropriate.**


	8. The terrors Strike

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 7: The Terrors Strike**

I woke up startled, not knowing where I was right away. The memories washed back through within a few seconds and then I realized how badly I needed the bathroom that was upstairs. Since Trunks and Goten were still sleeping, I crept up as silent as I could be. Entering the bathroom and taking care of my business, I walked by a large mirror and looked myself over. I still wasn't used to the new look, never mind everything else that went with it. Then I noticed something pink on the side of my clothing. Turning and leaning down to look at it closer, it looked like a spot of pink paint, or maybe dye, like someone had poured bleach on it. Paying no heed, I turned back to the mirror, only to see something yellow behind me. Almost instinctively, my tail pulled around to the front to wrap around, and then I saw what was wrong. My tail was a yellowish white color, exactly like bleach blond hair. It was spotty too, like it was rubbed on but not thoroughly. I scowled deeply, realizing who likely did all of this. While I could've panicked or maybe started shouting, I merely walked out slowly to the living room again. There I observed the two sleeping pranksters, because I knew it was them. I saw them start to stir so I quickly dropped back down and let my tail display itself while I pretended to sleep. Sure enough, Goten woke up first, and started laughing right away, prompting Trunks to shush him.

"Look Goten, the stuff works. Next time, lets do his hair, make him think he is a Super Saiyan!"

"Yeah Trunks, I bet he'll be thinking he actually is when he isn't. Hahahaha!" Goten laughed loudly.

"You two better start moving, because when I get off this bed, you're dead!" I said, eyes still closed as I prepared to pounce.

"Uh oh!" Trunks and Goten said in unison. The room exploded into a swirl of flapping papers and blankets as I chased both boys up the stairs. They went straight for Gohan's room and got in and locked the door. Instead of plowing it down like I know I could have, I settled for listening to the activity inside.

"GOHAN, HALP!" they both shouted. They only received a grunt initially, but it did signal Gohan's sleep as officially over.

"Okay, what's wrong? Is Vegeta trying to get you two on early morning training again?"

"No, Verto chased us up here, said he was going to kill us. He looked pretty angry, he's right outside the door!" Trunks said.

A few seconds later Gohan opened the door, "What's the problem?" he asked.

All I did was swish my tail around, "You think I could borrow your Mom's skillet Gohan?" I asked nastily. He straightened up suddenly, apparently the blond tail opened his eyes more.

"Go downstairs and calm down, I'll handle this," he ordered. I did as he asked, fuming the whole way. I sat down, too mad to even bother trying to listen to their conversation. _Well maybe I'll get to see their heads bashed in by Chichi_. About ten to fifteen minutes went by while I was plotting many ways of torture before I finally calmed down. Then I heard a knock at the door, right before it opened to reveal Vegeta.

"Morning brat, I heard my son's pranks have started up again. Good, I've been meaning to get him in the gravity room for a good workout."

"Yeah well better you take them before I rip all their hair out with a pair of tweezers."

Vegeta roared with laughter, "Sounds painful, we will have to try that!" I smiled a bit, chuckling at the thought of a bald Trunks and Goten. Just then we heard Gohan and the boys come out, all three dressed for training.

"Awww, why do we have to train today Gohan? It was supposed to be our day off!" Trunks whined.

"Think about that next time you decide to dye someone's hair, never mind his tail! You're probably lucky he hasn't been trained or anything yet. Besides, I'm not the one training you two today, I owe Piccolo a match."

"Then who gets to..." he stopped dead when he thought up the possibilities, not noticing his father yet. "Please tell me its Krillin or that guy Tien today, please!" Trunks whined some more, starting to beg.

"Wrong again boy!" Vegeta announced his presence. Trunks and Goten didn't say anything, but they phased out and were out the door before anyone breathed again. "Oh I do love the chase," Vegeta said happily, and stormed out after them.

"I don't know who got the worse end of that deal, you or them." Gohan said, scratching his head, "Well I'm off to Kami's lookout. When my mother and Bulma get up, just tell them what happened. I think my mom has some stuff to take that off, but I don't know, I'll see you later!" Gohan called as he opened the door and flew off quickly.

After calming myself for a few more minutes and realizing I wouldn't get back to sleep, I began looking around for something to do. I spotted a TV right away, and a remote on the coffee table. Turning on the power, the channel was on a historical channel. Just my luck too, it was covering Mr. Satan's match with Cell, the re-enactment version. It looked horribly pathetic, I flipped it off right away, and laid back down, examining the dye job on my tail. I heard footsteps and sat up to see Mom coming down the steps wearing a fuzzy blue robe.

"Ahhhh," she yawned, "Where is everyone?"

"Gohan is off with Piccolo, The boys are being chased down for training by Vegeta, punishment I guess," I said.

"For what this time?" she asked, still groggy.

I swished my tail upward to her line of sight, "Need I say more?"

* * *

About four hours later was sitting in the Son's bathtub, submerged in bath water. Chichi was at the sink, mixing a potion of some kind. Mom was behind me, washing my hair slowly. I had demanded on bathing myself, until Chichi splashed whatever was in her bucket on my skin. It felt like acid, but left it very clean. Still, the idea of washing my tail with that mixture wasn't a pleasant one. They had fixed me a large breakfast and seemed to marvel at my eating habits when no other Saiyans were around. It was likely because I didn't have to fight for my food, but I gulped it down pretty quick regardless.

"Okay, I'm about ready, this stuff will take anything off. It's going to sting a little though as you noticed earlier, and considering it's on your tail, it's going to hurt a lot more. That's why I have the bathtub water to dilute it a little. What we will do is wash a little off at a time and rinse quickly so it doesn't hurt too bad, okay?" Chichi said in a consoling voice.

"Just do whatever you need to get it off," I said, still a little mad. She grabbed the bucket and pulled it over by the tub, then grabbed two round stones and placed them in my hands.

"Hold onto these, it will help a little, here we go." When the first drop of the stuff touched my tail, I thought someone had just dipped it in a boiling pot of water and held it in. Instantly I shattered the two stones in my hands from my tight grip.

"Son of a..OWWWW!!" I shouted then bit my lips and toughed it out, but it didn't stop tears from poring out.

"I'd say he's going to be just as strong as our kids Chichi," Mom said as she saw the dust coming from my hands.

Chichi nodded to this, "Not a surprise I guess!" Finally she rinsed the first time for some relief. "Ok sweetie, here comes round two, you're doing fine!" Chichi said, trying to keep me calm like a nurse would a patient. It didn't do much to calm me, but I didn't scream the second time, despite the pain. I was shaking like crazy though, enough not to notice a front door slam and the source of all the trouble come by the door.

"Look at that Goten! He's so pathetic that he's crying just from washing up! Oh what's wrong wimp? Didn't like that, get used to it!" Trunks taunted. Mom growled a little at her son's badgering, but Chichi spoke up before she could.

"Alright tough guys, drop the pants, time to find out if you can stand it as well as he can!" While Mom rinsed my tail back off, Chichi pulled the pants off to Goten and Trunks rear ends. Then she splashed some of her special stuff on the general area where their tail roots would be. The resounding scream was music to my ears, and even better when they ran around and around holding their rears like they were on fire.

"What is that, acid?" Trunks moaned as he dared get closer.

"Close enough," I muttered.

"Guess he's a little tougher than you thought," Chichi boasted.

"Yeah well you're going easy on him, just dump it on and get it done faster, like this!" Trunks declared, grabbing the bucket and dumping it clear over my head and all over my body.

* * *

I woke up on the couch a few hours later, my body still feeling like I had bad sunburn all over, but at least I was sparking clean I suppose. Whatever Chichi's potion had in it, it made rubbing alcohol seem like nothing. Both women were probably deaf after my screaming was done, though Mom probably got the worst of it since she was scrambling for more rinsing water. Speaking of Mom, she was at the table talking with Chichi and sipping coffee when I walked up.

"Hey there sleepyhead, looks like you won't need to worry about getting revenge on the boys. They got stuck with Vegeta in the gravity room again, so they shouldn't bug you much more today," Mom said cheerfully.

I only wished I could be as cheerful about it, "Well whenever I don't feel like I have severe sunburns, I'll rejoice," I said, still grumpy.

"We should get back home, we still need to get you set up with a room and Chichi will be out of food if we stay," Mom said, getting up.

"Thanks for coming! Come back anytime, sorry about the boys, they're quite ornery. Send Goten back when Vegeta is done with him Bulma!" Chichi called out the door.

"Will do! Bye Chichi!" she called back, hopping into her jet. I got in the passenger side slowly, and she lifted off. I stayed pretty quiet on the ride back to the Capsule compound, I was still rather disgusted with the boys.

"Well you'll have to get along with them eventually so no use stewing over it, kind of like Vegeta not being stronger than Goku. He stewed about it forever until Goku died for the Earth. After that Vegeta barely trained for a solid fourteen months. Other than a minor outing to another planet with Gohan, he didn't get into one little fight. Though as I hear, that one was very dicey. Point is, he did nothing but help me and Chichi with the boys, changing diapers even!"

I looked at her funny, "So when did he get back to normal then?" I asked.

"You're obviously not buying it like I did. Yes I should've known he was doing it for a reason, that reason came the same day Trunks could walk without help. Whoosh and he was off to the gravity room to train a toddler. Same thing happened with Goten about six months later. Goten saw Trunks training and wanted to do it too, so pretty soon he was walking. But I suppose we owed it to Vegeta for all the things he did to help Chichi and I out, they didn't turn out too terrible now did they?" she asked me.

I gave her the "what the hell are you on" look before shrugging it off, "Yeah I suppose your right, even if they get a little out of control."

"That's my boy, nastiness never pays off ya know, Vegeta learned that the hard way...but that's a different story," she said, cutting herself short.

I snorted though, keeping on topic, "It's okay, I was twenty one years old just a few days ago. I can talk to and understand adults," I said.

"Nevertheless you are a child again. Try to enjoy another childhood before it vanishes too, I doubt many people ever get the chance for a second one," she beamed at me.

"Good point, I will mum," I declared, then sat back and looked at the stars in the sky all the way back to Capsule Corp...err my home now. _It's incredible, the timeline has changed this much already? True, its just minor stuff that could have happened anyway, but even Chichi was a little different with the training thing. And the time chamber not having the two-day limit anymore? That was unexpected. Makes me wonder what's in store for me next._

* * *

We touched down at the front door just in time to see Goten drag himself out the door and take off flying back the other way. Mom just shrugged and recapsulized the plane, and then we headed inside. Trunks sat on the living room sofa, looking rather exhausted. Vegeta sat across from him, a little bruised, but not much.

"Hey mom, can I go with Dad tomorrow?" Trunks asked the instant she came in.

"Go where?" Mom asked, never one to make a decision without facts first.

"Um...I think Dad called it the hyperbolidy time chamber or something, he said it was to train Verto," Trunks said, playing with his fingers nervously.

"That's Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and no, me and the boy are going alone. The Namek will be lucky to even see the inside of the room," Vegeta answered for him.

"Awww, I don't get to have any fun," Trunks whined, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor.

"That room is not for fun boy, its for work! When I'm done, this kid will have the same ability that you do, maybe even more, we'll see," Vegeta scoffed, "Bulma get that boy a room and to bed, were leaving well before dawn. He's getting a full eight to nine months to get him fully trained. Should be enough if he's motivated."

"Okay, are you going to bed now too then?" Mom asked.

"No. I'll have plenty of time to rest in the chamber, if I need it," Vegeta muttered.

"Come with me Verto, I'll put you in the room across from Trunks," Mom said, taking my shoulder and guiding me to a stairwell. At the top of the stairs were six doors.

"The first on the left is Trunks' room, the one across from it will be yours. The middle one next to Trunks is a closet where you will find towels and such, and the bathroom is directly across. The two at the end are the master bedroom and a guest room, here's yours," she said, opening the door. Inside was a simple dresser on one side, a large bed in the middle, and a closet on the other side. Other than that, there was a lot of space in the large room.

"Well here you are, you better get to sleep though if Vegeta is going to leave so early. I'll try to get the robots in the kitchen to have a meal going by two in the morning and have you up by then so you can eat first. I know your hungry by now, but you need the sleep more if your gonna be training with Vegeta in the time chamber. Wow, we've barely known you for two days and you're already going to change on me," Mom said, sadness in her voice.

"Oh I wont change that much," I said, trying to cheer her up.

"Oh you will, anyone who trains in there for a day changes a lot, not to mention with only Vegeta around. But no more fretting about it, get your sleep, you'll need it, good night," Mom said, tossing the blanket over me and shutting off the light.

"You sure did accept all of that quickly," I muttered.

"That's cause I know how Vegeta will get if he's away for awhile, marital activities," she grinned and shut the door. I drifted off slowly, nervous training thoughts dancing in my head.

* * *

A rough shake woke me up, "Verto, honey wake up! It's time to go to the lookout!" Mom said, shaking me more.

"What? Huh?" I asked incoherently. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes, barely recalling where I was at the moment.

"Here eat this, it'll wake you up and feed you at the same time," she said, popping something small into my mouth. I chewed it slowly, and realizing how hard it was, I chewed harder and swallowed. Instantly, any burning pain from Chichi's potion was gone, as was my hunger and I was totally awake.

"Oh man, whew, was that a Senzu bean?" I asked as my fatigue lifted.

"How did you know that?" she asked, her face full of surprise. I cringed a bit when I realized how bad of a slip that really was, but quickly had a good excuse to go with it.

"Sort of had one when the other Trunks found me, I was in bad shape from a car accident,' I quickly explained.

"Is he ready yet woman?" came Vegeta's voice before she could ask anything further.

"Yes he is, go on now, get to your training!" Mom said, giving me a shove out the door to join Vegeta.

"Come on brat, lets go," he growled, walking quickly downstairs and to the front lobby. I followed, having to quicken my pace to keep up. Once out the door I had to put on the brakes so I didn't run into him when he stopped short. Coming up next to him, I saw him looking up, then back down to me. In a flash he grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me up. That's when a big rush of wind hit me in the face and I saw a bright blue light surrounding us, blocking a lot of the wind. Beyond the light the ground was moving really fast below us. Flight was new for me so I wasn't sure how I was going to react. I had to admit though, it was very cool, and I couldn't wait to be able to do it on my own.

After about twenty minutes of silent but fast flight, he turned direction to straight up, and I felt my stomach about drop to my feet when he hit the gas so to speak. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a thin tower like structure, that being Korin's tower. Soon we passed the top of it and continued to soar upwards to a platform in the sky. When we reached it, I noticed it was not dark like it should have been. The sky was dark, but the brightness of the floor kept it light as day. We landed right outside of the palace, three figures were standing there watching us. One was Piccolo, he stood out quite well, the other looked like a smaller version of him, that being Dende. The final one was a fat being with dark black skin, and a turban. It could only be Popo, the genie and assistant to Dende. Vegeta dropped me about ten feet before he touched down, but I landed just fine.

"Oh is that the new boy? He looks strong, kind of like Goku when he was first here," Popo said in his goofy voice.

Vegeta growled, "This boy is nothing like Kakarot! I will make sure of that! Come on Namek, let's go." Piccolo huffed a bit, but walked towards the palace anyway. Vegeta followed and I followed him. We walked a good ways, and then stopped at a single door on a wall.

"How long till you want me in there?" Piccolo asked.

"Eight hours, the equivalent of four months or so. That should be enough to get him started, and bring some more Senzu beans with you, we just might need them," Vegeta barked, then opened the door and entered. I followed quickly so not to piss him off anymore. Inside I found what I expected, a small living area with a table, kitchen and beds. The rest was nothing but white ground and sky. The air was a bit thin as well, but it didn't appear to affect me much.

I turned around and faced Vegeta, "Okay, where do we start?" I asked.


	9. Vegeta's Boot Camp

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 8: Vegeta's Boot camp**

Vegeta pulled out a capsule and opened it to reveal a simple pack of clothes.

"Put those on over your clothes," he ordered. I did so, right away noticing that they were extremely heavy for clothes, the shirt must've weighed eighty to ninety pounds. It wasn't a problem lifting them or putting them on, but wearing them and training with them was going to be a different story. After I put on everything in the bag, I felt about a lot heavier, and then I read the labels on each one, it was about five hundred pounds worth of clothing.

"Good, now go out onto the ground, then we begin. Or should I say, you begin!" he frowned. When I stepped off the platform, I dropped like a boulder to one knee. I had forgotten about the ten times gravity. The air was also thin, making it a little difficult to breathe.

"We'll start easy, I want you to walk twenty laps around the perimeter of the palace, but get about twenty to thirty feet away from it. Then jog around eighty times, then run around two hundred laps as fast as you can. Take breaks if you need them, that should easily get you properly adjusted to the added weight." _Easy huh, well maybe if I didn't have an ass load of weight on me. That and the gravity would make it about, five thousand? Damn_. I began walking, struggling to take even a step.

"Come find me when you're done, boy," he yelled behind me. _Yeah, next year_. Slowly but surely I began step a little easier and faster, but I was gasping for breathe soon, the weights were pulling me down pretty bad. I pressed on, completing my first lap in what must've taken an hour, maybe two. My 2nd lap probably took about half the time. _Now I know what Goku felt like trying to catch Bubbles_. Pretty soon I could walk more normally, though my body felt like I was trying to move a mountain with every step. On my eighth lap around, I found that it was slowly getting easier to move with the heavy gravity. The strain was lessening and I wasn't out of breath every few steps.

_Wow, this heavy training isn't so bad once you adjust to it_. By lap fifteen, I was walking around normally, no gasping at all, I was done with twenty a few minutes later. I glanced around for Vegeta, but didn't see him anywhere. I also looked for a clock, but the only one I saw didn't appear to be moving at all. _That couldn't have taken more than a few hours anyway, might as well keep going. _I began the jogging exercise, and putting out more energy zapped my strength again, but not near as bad as before. I began to tire eventually, even the adjustment wasn't going to stop that. I took a seat on the ground to catch my breath for a few minutes. I had done maybe about fifty jogging laps, seventy including the walking. My legs were shot and felt like dead weight. My arms were still okay, so I decided to do some pushups while my legs were resting. When I pushed up the first time, I pushed up hard assuming it would be more difficult, so my legs went into the air into a handstand. _Okay, apparently the walking helped in more than one area. Well, might as well take this further, not like I have anything better to do._ I began doing pushups while upside down, keeping track as I went. My arms didn't strain till somewhere around two hundred and fifty, and I didn't really keep track after that when I started struggling. Soon after I felt like I did a thousand, my arms started shaking and they buckled, sending me to the ground with a thud.

"I wonder if Popo packed Advil in this place, that hurts!" I said aloud, holding my head. My legs felt rested, so I started jogging around the perimeter again, and was astonished when I jogged as fast as possible without sprinting and barely noticed any strain. I went blazing past and in a full circle in about ten seconds. _Wow, what a little rest can do…if I can even call that rest._ I finished jogging in just a few minutes and ran full sprint right away, feeling like I could run forever. Time passed for me when I was doing nothing but running and marveling at my speed. I lost count after one hundred fifty because I was starting to have fun with it, speeding up and slowing down at will. Soon I could circle the palace in about a second, or less.

_Wow, I guess this training isn't that bad after all with this Saiyan body. _I could take off, and the dust would still be floating upward in the air when I came back three laps later. I began to widen the circle size just to test how long it would take to do a full circle at different distances. I got it down to about three seconds for what seemed like about a half mile, maybe a full mile.

"Hey brat? Where's the fire!" came Vegeta's loud voice from directly behind me. Startled, I spun, just in time for a fist to come at my face really fast. He nailed me in the forehead and I went flying back, still spinning from being startled. I landed with a sickening thud on my rear.

"So boy, you think you're fast now? You're still nothing!" Vegeta barked.

"Thanks for the reminder, I'll be sure to come back to you for another," I said without thinking.

"Hah, do you know how many laps you actually did boy?" he asked, a little mocking tone.

"You said to do about three hundred total, maybe I did a few more," I said, trying to shake the fuzziness from his fist away.

"You did about a thousand damn laps, not to mention the nine hundred pushups you did! Getting a little carried away with your strength eh?"

I let the numbers sink in, "How the hell did I do so many?"

"Oh don't worry, you'll be doing more, no time like the present to do a lot more than the required number. Good, we can get done faster and to my personal favorite, sparring!" Vegeta said with a cocky smile.

"Oh joy," I muttered, knowing what that would probably be like.

"Let's get something to eat, I doubt that Senzu bean is going to keep you full much longer," he said as my stomach growled an angry hello. "Well right on time," he smirked, walking back to the palace. I got up slowly and followed.

**Interlude 8.1 -Videl's visit-**

Videl rang the doorbell about ten times before someone finally answered.

"Mom. That guy Mr. Satan's daughter is here to see you again!" Trunks shouted.

"Have her wait in the lobby! I'll be just a minute!" Bulma yelled back. Videl took a seat, and Trunks waited impatiently for his mother to show.

"Where's your father, and that other kid?" She asked.

"Off training somewhere. I wanted to go with but Dad didn't let me. I wish Mom would let me go over to Goten's or something, but I can't cause I got in trouble," Trunks looked angrily at the floor.

"Where are they training at?" she continued.

"Up in the sky somewhere. I've only been there once but it's way up high and hard to find. That Piccolo guy is up there and he doesn't like me or dad. I could beat him up though, he don't look that tou...hmph.." Trunks was saying before Bulma's hand clamped over his mouth.

"Trunks go help your grandma, I think she's in the kitchen!" Bulma suggested.

Whatever he was saying was instantly gone and he rushed out of the room, "Yay, food!"

"Kids. What can I do for you Videl? Helicopter break down again?" Bulma asked, hoping that Videl didn't pay much attention to her son's information superhighway of a mouth.

"Well I promised that I would check up on that new kid, your nephew. What was his name again?"

Bulma coughed hard when she heard the word nephew, "Oh you mean Verto, yes such a sweet boy, strong too. He's off training with my husband, boy needs to learn how to defend himself is what Vegeta says," she said, hoping the girl would just accept that.

Videl jaw dropped, "Train for what? After what I saw the kid do, your husband probably won't come back alive if he makes the kid mad!"

Bulma laughed a little, "No Vegeta is strong like that too, he'll be fine," she said as the doorbell rang again. "Let me get that, Oh Yamcha, how's it going, come on in," Bulma said as the desert bandit himself strolled in, a leisure suit on. "Videl, this is my friend Yamcha. We used to date, but he cheats too much, isn't that right?" Bulma gave him an elbow.

Yamcha's face turned bright red, "Emm not lately. Hi, uh, Videl, what's your last name?"

"Satan."

Yamcha's face discolored a little more as he tried to contain his laughter, "Mr. Satan's daughter huh, that's interesting," Yamcha sputtered out, barely holding back tears.

"What's so funny?" Videl asked angrily.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all," Yamcha said, trying to cover his tracks. Lucky for him several police sirens went off outside and Videl reacted right away.

"That's my cue, cops always need help nowadays," Videl claimed, storming out the door.

"That girl is going to be a pain if she learns of all our abilities, she's the type to let the public know about everything. Funny though, I think I've met her before as Bandit, the baseball alias everyone gave me. I figured she would have recognized me," Yamcha said.

"Well she got to see it first hand the other day, and odds are she'll see it everyday pretty soon. Gohan is getting enrolled in the same high school as her this year from what Chichi says. That will be a mess if Gohan forgets to hide his powers," Bulma said.

"So what do you mean she saw it first hand?" Yamcha asked.

"Sit down, you'll need to, " she said, shutting the front door.

* * *

I polished off what was left of our meal, not that it was any good. Vegeta could cook a little, but he blasted everything and most of it turned up dry and burnt.

"Bah, even the woman's food tastes better than this!" Vegeta growled about his own cooking.

"Maybe we should ask Popo to cook," I suggested.

"Remind me to get him when the Namek comes in," he said, chewing the last bit off a charred steak.

"So why is Piccolo coming in at all? Not that I mind, I just thought you wanted to train me alone?" I asked.

"Part of the blasted Namek's deal. I get to use the time chamber, if he gets to train you as well. Otherwise he said he'd blow up the door and trap us in here forever. Remind me rip off one of his damn arms when we're done," Vegeta said angrily.

"Ah, well the food didn't taste that well, but it'll do. As long as I'm full I don't care," I said, getting up and stretching my arms a bit.

"As it shouldn't, now go back out there and do sit-ups until you can't move. Then run more laps until you can't walk, then pushups. Then do it all again! Got that boy? Get going!" He barked. _Well that didn't take long before he blew his top again_._So much for the royal treatment I was starting to get. _ I did as he asked, doing sit-ups constantly, and quickly. I discovered a new problem, with my new strength I could do so many so fast, that I'd be doing them forever. That didn't even cover the pushups and the running. Just for the hell of it, I kept track and set a goal for myself for each exercise. That failed when I passed the so called goal easily. Before I knew it I had already done five hundred sit-ups, and still going strong. Seemed like every muscle got stronger every time I moved. When I passed two thousand and just started to sweat, I got a little concerned on how many I would actually do. I think I hit seven thousand before I finally stopped, when my stomach and back hurting a little. I pulled myself up and started running my laps, running them just as fast, if not faster than I had earlier. This is when I realized what Vegeta was doing, building up my strength so my body could handle the powers that I might unleash so I wouldn't explode. No use disappointing him, so I ran faster and faster with every step. I'm not sure how many laps I did, somewhere in the ten thousands, before I finally stumbled and fell on my face.

"What a wonderful stop that was, using my head!" I said to myself. I started on the pushups, the handstand ones. Once again I did a lot of them until my arms and hands began to get sore. After about four thousand, my arms gave out and I fell on my stomach this time, wiped out. Breathing heavily, I laid there for a minute, resting a little while catching my breath. _Just a bit more rest, then do it all again. It's difficult, but I've got to push myself! _Then I repeated the process several more times, for who knows how long. I really only had my own determination to drive me, until finally I literally couldn't move.

"Brat! Get up here!" Vegeta yelled from the palace. I pulled myself and walked quickly back to the palace. He stood at the front stoop and waited on me to walk up there.

"Boy, go get some rest! That's what the bed is for, you're going to burn out from exhaustion. I don't want to get my hands dirty dragging your carcass back up here!"

"Oh sorry. I still have a little left, I can keep going!" I said defiantly.

"You've been doing that routine for three days now, you need to sleep sometime! Now get to bed, you've earned the rest!" He said, stepping off the stoop and walking out onto the field. _Three days, how the hell did I lose track like that?_ I was too tired to care how I lost track of time just exercising, so I practically drug myself over to a bed and collapsed into it, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

I woke to a loud explosion and a bright light in the distance. I stood up to investigate, only to fall down when a shockwave hit and shook the floor. In the far distance I saw Vegeta standing straight up with a hand stretched outward, then he turned in my direction, and disappeared. I saw a little dust go up from the ground in a direct line coming right for me. Then I saw his fist coming at me out of the dust cloud. I jumped back by instinct and took off full sprint into the field. What a little rest did, a lot of rest did more, I felt great. I ran much faster than before, and I could hear loud bangs behind me, like sonic booms. That's when a gust of wind went blazing by before stopping ahead of me as I tried to stop myself. Amazingly I did stop quickly and didn't break anything. That almost changed when a boot caught me in the gut and I stumbled back and fell on my ass.

"Well at least you knew well enough to dodge the first one, there's hope for you boy!" Vegeta said mockingly.

"Thanks for the wakeup call, I felt great until you kicked me," I growled.

"You'd better, you slept for a damn day and a half, now onto business. It's time to learn how to unleash and control ki energy, which comes from your life force. The stronger you are, the stronger your ki is, take a seat." I looked at him funny since I was still on the ground, but rearranged and sat Indian style as he sat down in front of me.

"Now close your mind to all outside distraction and open it to yourself. Search deep within yourself, and find your inner power. It'll feel like a tiny pull when you find it, just latch onto it and bring it out," he said in a softer tone. I did as he said, searching deep with my eyes closed. I something quickly, but it didn't seem to want to come out. I had the picture of a dam holding it back in my head.

"If it hesitates, just pull harder," I heard Vegeta say. I did and the dam literally broke and the energy flowed through my body, giving me a numb feeling. It felt kind of like pins and needles, but not quite. When I felt it in my hands I finally opened my eyes.

"You're almost there, just let it come out," Vegeta said again. I felt it build up in my upper arms, so with my mind, I pushed the numbness out to my hands and let it go. As soon as it did, it formed a large ball of light in my hands, but didn't stay there long and blasted out of them. Next thing I saw was Vegeta's hair smoking.

"Oops."

But he shrugged it off, "No you did well, I didn't have my guard up. Now I want you to learn how to call that forth at will and control the amount of energy you release. Then I want you to release energy balls, control and guide them around the area. This will help you master energy attacks and usage." I did so and summoned my numbing ki again, easier this time and began the drills. In a little less than an hour I had mastered it well enough to simply hold out my hand and send a blast within a few seconds.

"Boy, stand here, and fire a blast at me. This time keep pouring energy ki into it and make it as powerful as possible," Vegeta suggested. I raised my eyebrow in question, but did so anyway, holding out both hands and summoning the strength.

"HAAAAA!" I yelled inadvertently, the ki surging through me had caused a bit of a strain forced me to yell a little as I fired at him. A large, gold beam came out of my hands and pressed forward quickly. I saw him hold out one hand and send a similar blue blast straight back at me, colliding with mine and creating a power struggle. I felt my beam being pushed back, so I helped it along by putting more power into it and making the beam a little brighter. It didn't do much good as my beam shrank away quickly and soon all I could see in front of me was blue. Before I could even think to try to dodge it, it hit me with such a force that I felt my skin burning and my bones shaking. The numbing feeling of my power was literally erased. I fell backward as the beam pushed past me and into the distance, creating a large explosion. After the dust settled,

Vegeta rushed to my side, though he sort of phased into view, "You ok kid?"

"I'll let you know...once I find out if my legs are still there...ugh," I coughed.

"Here, I brought a few beans just in case. You took that blast pretty well for someone so inexperienced," he said, popping one into my mouth. I chewed quickly, wanting to knock him out for almost blasting me to hell. As soon as I recovered I stood up, I gave him a glare that could kill. I softened once I noticed that he had an apologetic look about him, though one that didn't last long.

"Well kid, I'm going to show you how to properly perform my Galic Gun attack. It's an ancient attack that has been passed down through the generations of the royal family. Then you are to do ten of them successfully, then we're done for today," he said slowly. I accepted that, still a little sour about it. When I tried my first Galic Gun, I could feel a difference when I uttered the words. It was like it was a spiritual set of words to say or something. The ki was more concentrated, and more powerful, spitting out a large red and purple beam, fully capable of destroying a city, or more, judging by the explosion. Vegeta explained that those new to the technique would usually have a purple beam until they had mastered it, which would produce a red one depending on how concentrated it was. He was quite impressed that mine was partially red after the first try. Something else was holding the fingers and arms in the pose. Putting both palms together back behind, rather they were mirrors to each other or not didn't truly matter, it was mostly to hold the beam in place while charging so it didn't go out of control. Once the charge was complete, pushing the energy out was easy. Also keeping the leading arm on top was key, though I didn't ask why. Apparently the Kamehameha was done in a similar fashion, except the trailing arm was the one to go on top. After ten successful Galic Gun attacks, I was out of energy, the concentration and ki use wiped me out.

"Get to bed boy, we're going to start up your flight tomorrow, then the fight training," he said. I walked back to the beds quickly, sleeping off my fatigue.

**Power levels**

**Verto after 4 days (or 16 minutes on the outside) inside the time chamber: 175,000**

**Vegeta: 50,000,000**


	10. Surprise Surprise

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 9: Surprise Surprise**

Over the next two weeks I learned how to fly and _properly_ fight from Vegeta. Of course listening to him belittle me for what he deemed a sloppy punch or kick was enough to polish things. His main focus was where I was striking at, basic weak points and such. Flight was easy after the first two crash landings. The phasing trick was pretty neat as well, even if it was only moving really fast. It was almost as if you're entering a different dimension of time and space, except you're just moving faster than the normal world. The view changes colors slightly, various colors depending on the environment, and even the air seems to slow itself. In the phasing world, you can pick up things with your senses much better, like a certain Saiyan swirling around you trying to kick your ass. Another cool thing about it was that you could be at nearly any speed in that world and it would change to your point of view until you left it to attack. Basically the same as your perception changes when going faster in a vehicle, only at a much higher rate. Fighting was mostly easy too, until the real sparring matches started. Vegeta didn't really have what I would call a martial arts style. His style seemed to be do whatever you can to win, end of story. That was how he trained me too, which was fine, I really didn't have a preference or art form I wanted to follow. I was also taught how to power up and combine ki blasting with fighting, though most of that was pretty obvious through Vegeta's brash example.

In about a month's time I was able to take Vegeta on in a sparring match...and get creamed every time. I lasted awhile if he wasn't trying, somewhere in the ten to twenty minute range. My daily routine started then, my exercises, then ki blasts, then sparring. Every day I got stronger than the day before, probably because he would beat me silly before letting me eat and then sleep. He said it built strength and skills quickly, though I wasn't sure about that. Ki sensing was one nasty lesson. He blindfolded me and then I had to take him on in a sparring match, without my eyes. Three days and three Senzu beans later, I got it down.

One day, about three or four months in, Vegeta relentlessly beat the shit out of me to an extreme, and then started taunting me about my planet.

"I'll bet Frieza took everyone's life all at once, he should have killed them all one at a time to savor the blood. Did he rape your mother in front of your father before killing them both? That's how pathetic your planet was right? Every one was weak and had no desire to fight back. Just take their beatings like good little slaves. I can't believe I'm even training such a weakling, hahahahahaaha..." the laughing continued. That's when my anger built up and I powered up inadvertently, just from being angry. What he said really didn't make a whole lot of sense, but just dropping Frieza's name was enough.

"Stop laughing!" I screamed as I lashed out at him, only to get punched back, my recklessness messed up my focus.

"That's it boy, get angry. You know what I should do, just say screw it and blow up this planet. Maybe get one more good screw out of my mate, then just blow it all up, her too! You're all just one big pain in the ass! Muhahahaha!" he laughed some more. My anger turned into pure rage as I tried to summon power to shut him up. My power stopped flowing, as I was at my absolute maximum, and I knew it wasn't enough to scratch him. That's when I saw felt sort of gate in my head, the power I wanted just behind it, and the answer to his cruelty today.

"That's why you're saying it, you're trying to get me to turn super saiyan aren't you?" I asked, still mad.

"Don't stop now boy, you're close!" he shouted. I let certain pictures regarding death and anger enter my head, and I saw the gate begin to sway. But soon the energy supply I was putting out decreased and I collapsed in a heap, the gate disappearing.

"Well you were damn close, now you know the secret. You'll complete the goal when the time is right. Remember, you have tremendous hidden powers that you must release yourself. Trust in your abilities and they will reveal themselves," Vegeta said, going back to the palace for something to eat. I followed, but went to bed instead, worn out from trying to transform. As I tried to fall asleep, I noticed Vegeta glancing over at me with that came concerned and confused glance.

I opened my eyes soon after falling asleep, only to see the lookout from above. I saw the Z gang there, well some of them, Krillin, Yamcha, and Eighteen, along with Mom, Chichi, and Videl, with shorter hair. Then I saw a bright pink beam appear in the air, along with a glowing hole. Then a pink rope of some kind came out, and fell on the ground, turning into a puddle, the hole vanished. I tried to move, but discovered I couldn't, I couldn't even blink my eyes. The puddle started moving, and then it rose up and formed a large pink figure with white pants.

"He's back, its Majin Buu!" screamed an old man.

"How about we eat now?" Buu said, "Chocolate sounds good!" Then a bright pink light came from his tentacle and started zapping everyone. I saw Videl, and Mom enveloped in the light, and then they disappeared. I tried to struggle and move out to stop him, but I was paralyzed and forced to watch him eat the chocolate bars.

"No!" I screamed aloud.

"I'm coming little worm, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Buu yelled at me. As he ate the two chocolate bars, he fended off the attacks from Krillin and Yamcha before giving them the same sugary treatment.

"NOOOOOOOO!" I screamed, suddenly sitting up. I was still in the chamber, in the bed.

"Have a nightmare boy?" Vegeta asked, he was at the table munching on burnt ham. I nodded, laying back. _Should I tell him...that could screw up the timeline, but will it even matter? No I'll wait until I have to, won't do any good to go after Buu and Babidi if I can't stop them. And they wont believe me anyway, not until it actually happens. Just me being here changes the timeline, maybe Buu wont come after all, or maybe we can stop it from happening should we get the chance, _I thought to myself, slipping back into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next day, Vegeta woke me.

"Listen boy, I'll be gone for a little while. Train as you like, just don't kill yourself. I've got to go get the Namek and Chef Lardass; we're out of food and senzu beans. I won't be gone long, but it'll be several hours for you."

"Okay," I mumbled as I rubbed sleep from my eyes.

With that said he exited, yelling for Piccolo as the door shut. I got up and did my early morning exercises. The Buu dream was still fresh in my mind, and anger pumped through me, fueling my training. _The Super Saiyan form comes as a response to a need, not a desire, you have to create that need. Wishing for it and desiring it does jack shit, you have to create the need on your own, _Vegeta's words rang clearly. Finally, after the morning workout, I powered up and let the Buu dream get to me again. Buu popped out of the hole again. I heard Videl scream as he formed into Buu again. Chichi rushed at him with a broom and hit him in the head, no effect. He reached out and grabbed her neck, snapping it like a twig. She slumped to the ground and lay motionless. I tried to reach out to her and help, but I was paralyzed again, unable to do anything but watch. Buu cackled and his forelock tentacle reached down over Chichi.

"No use wasting food," he said, the bright pink beam reached her again and transformed her into an egg. He grabbed it with his forelock, and brought it up to his mouth. "On second thought, eggs aren't too tasty!" With that said he dropped the egg and squashed it under his foot.

Mom screamed, "Verto! Help!" I discovered I could move again, but an invisible wall kept me back from the lookout.

"Try all you want boy, you can't save them!" Buu laughed, shooting another beam at Mom, and she vanished, a chocolate bar took her place.

"NO! Turn her back!" I yelled at him, full of rage. Instead he grabbed the bar and ate it, chewing slowly. Rage filled me and the wall began to falter.

"Ahh, I could feel her chocolaty bones crush! So tasty, I love nuts in my chocolate!" he laughed. That did it, my rage overcame me and I felt a huge amount of energy erupt. I screamed in agony as I latched onto it and felt it surge through me like a tidal wave, I felt my hair stick up a little bit, mostly from my power-up, my muscles bulged a bit more. I screamed loudly in pain and anger, before realizing that I saw nothing but black again. Then I opened my eyes and looked around.

The chamber was quiet, it seemed to be a bit lighter today, like a golden sun had finally appeared. I walked back to the palace and paced, a little calmer now but impatiently waiting for Vegeta to come back so I would know if I was doing it right, or had a target to take out some aggression I had at the moment. That's when I glanced at the mirror by the tub. My hair was blond and my eyes were green. My tail was still brown but emitted a golden hue while wrapped around my waist.

"What the?" I asked nobody. I shot up and ran over to the mirror and looked myself over. I was a Super Saiyan, I could feel the power flowing through me now. At first I was ecstatic, I finally reached the level. Then an odd thought hit me, _wait a second, shouldn't I be going ape shit or something right about now? _I felt incredibly energetic, but I also felt in control. I assumed that it might have been because there was no one there to take out any aggression on. Then I went into the field again for a test drive. I fired a really big blast from my hand, and was amazed how much energy it released, and how much it didn't take out of me. Any other time it would've left me at least a little drained, but not this time.

"I've got to learn how to transform at will," I said, not that anyone was there to hear me.

Over the day, I practiced the change. At first I could only get it to happen every so often when I powered up and got angry, after the fourth or fifth time I got it down to a science. Powering down wasn't much of a problem as Vegeta had already taught me, it just took a little more to do it. After mastering the switch to Super Saiyan, I rummaged though the kitchen, only to find nothing in the fridge or pantry. I had learned quickly that Saiyans tend to be more tired when they haven't eaten anything, and that's what began happening to me. I laid down on the bed and drifted off while my stomach protested, smiling over the day's events, and thinking about the heart attack Vegeta was going to get when he saw me change.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to a wonderful smell. I wandered to its source, only to see Popo cooking in the kitchen.

"That smells good!" I said, letting my stomach talk.

"Oh good, you're awake. Piccolo and Vegeta went way out to spar while I cooked a meal. Have a seat, it'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Good, I'm starving here!" I said, taking a seat at the table as my stomach growled like crazy. He wasn't kidding about the sparring match, I sensed two huge power levels duking it out. One was Vegeta at his Super level, and the other slightly weaker one had to be Piccolo.

"So how is the training?" came a voice. I turned to a tall, built man, with three eyes. "Hi, I'm Tien," he said, putting his hand forward.

I took it in a handshake, "Verto, Pleasure to meet you. The training is going good, all those years and I never knew what I was capable of," I said with a slight smile.

"I know what you mean, that and I never thought I'd ever trust Piccolo or Vegeta, well it happened," Tien grinned.

"Hey three eyes!" came Vegeta's voice, "Wanna have a match, I say you can't even take the kid!"

Tien's eyes lowered, "Well kind of trusted," he said in a low voice, "Vegeta, give it a rest, I would like nothing more than to tear your head off. But I don't want to hurt the boy thinking he was you!"

"Ha! You are scared! You know the boy would rip you apart!" Vegeta pressed on.

"You want to have a match anyway?" Tien asked, "I promise to go easy on you."

"Don't you dare go easy on me, 'cause I sure won't on you. Besides I need a weaker target for a little while!" I challenged back with a smirk.

"You're on! Don't say I didn't warn you," he snorted. Tien and I took our positions out on the field, Piccolo and Vegeta took watch, and Vegeta had a big smirk on his face today.

"Tien is going to beat him Vegeta, accept it. He's no where near Tien's level of power nor experience," Piccolo said, catching my attention. I reached out with my senses to get a feel of Tien's power, he was just below me at my new maximum. And that was nowhere near where I was as a Super Saiyan. Either Vegeta knew something, or he was just eager to give me a test run. It didn't matter, I wanted to make him proud today.

"You ready kid?" Tien shouted.

"Bring it on!" I shouted. The instant I said it, I felt him come up behind me, I blocked his fist toward my head, then his kick. He attacked relentlessly, but I blocked every one of his blows with ease. I felt him put more energy into his effort, but not enough to get past my defense. Punch, punch, kick, punch, and it continued in a similar pattern. It might have been his martial art pattern I was seeing, but I really couldn't tell. I saw the strain on his face, obviously wanting to win easily and quickly just to prove Vegeta wrong. It didn't seem like he was really trying though.

"Come on kid, at least attack me!" Tien dared. _Well he asked for it. _ In a flash, I grounded him with one punch to his gut.

"Ha! What did I tell you Namek!" Vegeta gloated. Piccolo was surprised, but remained calm.

"Lets see how he does against Tien's techniques, that wasn't much of a try," Piccolo replied. Right after punching him the first time, I took off in pursuit of his flailing form, sending a weak blast at him. He came to just in time to dodge it before phasing out. Then I saw what looked like four Tiens coming at me. They surrounded me in the air and attacked. I was able to defend all four of them, but far from easily. I sensed he was about a fourth as powerful like this though, and quickly phased out to take advantage. He lost track of me, giving me a chance to nail each of the four from behind. All four landed uneasily, becoming one again.

He placed his hands over his face and shouted, "Solar FLARE!" The light blinded me and I immediately got kicked and punched to the ground. I hit kind of hard, but was back on my feet in an instant, still blinded. My vision began to return, but still blurry, so I shut my eyes and relied on my ki sense. I felt him behind me and blocked his kick. He flew back a few feet. I opened my eyes to see his hands together to form a triangle.

"TRI-BEAM!" he screamed as the blast came forth and hit me, pushing me back quite far away before knocking me down. I got back up quickly, and saw Tien's eyes widen, and he was out of breath. That's when I decided to spring it on him.

"Okay, that's enough warming up for you Tien! Ahhhhhhhhhh," I screamed as I began letting the pent up energy out and letting it flow once again. My muscles bulged up everywhere and the golden aura surrounded me once again as I flashed into Super Saiyan. Tien's eyes went wider then I thought anyone's could go. Piccolo's jaw had dropped to the floor, but Vegeta, he had a proud smile displayed on his face. While Tien was still gawking, I phased out and kicked him from behind, as he flew forward I rushed him again and caught him across the face. When he hit the ground, he barely budged. At first I was wondering if he was just done with the match, or done for a month.

But he soon got up, "Thanks for waking me up kid, remind me to never take on another Saiyan. Every time I do, I get my ass kicked." Tien then stumbled forward and exited the chamber.

"Muhahahaha, I think you scared him boy. Good job achieving the legendary status of the Saiyan race," Vegeta said, his voice full of pride. I kind of wanted to see more surprise out of him to be honest, but since I wasn't all that good at hiding my power yet, he might have noticed.

"I'm curious, when did he change?" Piccolo asked as I walked up to them.

"Yesterday, I spent the most of the day mastering the change," I said confidently.

"Impressive, you mean you transformed on your own?" Piccolo sounded shocked.

"Yeah I had a nightmare the previous night and I used some of those visions and let them get to me. Must've done it right huh?" I asked, probably sounding as innocent as Goten.

"Dinner time!" Popo announced to a wonderful looking supply of food on the table. I powered down to normal and raced off, hungrier than hell, and began scarfing away.

**Power levels**

**Verto (vs. Tien): 10,000,000; Super Saiyan: 40,000,000**

**Tien: 9,000,000**

**Vegeta: 55,000,000, Super Saiyan: 170,000,000**

**Piccolo: 55,000,000, Maximum: 160,000,000**


	11. Another Reality

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 10: Another Reality**

My training continued onward with Piccolo joining us for sparring contests. It was mostly both of them against me, or one on one training and sparring. Occasionally Vegeta would get mad at Piccolo and challenge him to a match, so I was given a real treat to watch those two go at it. Unfortunately Vegeta tended to crank it up to the second level from time to time just to prove to Piccolo that he could beat him easily. My power increased every day, just not as much of a jump as it had been. It was mostly my fighting techniques that were polished as I now had two trainers with different styles. I adapted to both of them and formed a combination of my own. During the last four months, Piccolo taught me several nice tricks to include with my style. He taught me how to concentrate ki better so I didn't have to use as much for a strong blast, as well as gathering it faster. It cut my energy usage down by at least half of what it had been. He also taught me his patented Special Beam Cannon, his minor energy blast the Destructive Wave, and the Masenko blast. The only advantage of the Masenko over the Galic Gun was it didn't take quite as long to gather ki for it. On the other hand, the Galic Gun was a _much_ stronger attack. He also taught me other Namekian tricks using the mind, slight telepathic ability was one of them, I could only communicate with another that could do it though, and it didn't work on Vegeta. The other trick wasn't much of a trick, just meditation, but it cut my ki use even more, and I could power up a little faster. After Super Saiyan, the thing that Vegeta was most impressed with was my eventual mastery of the Galic Gun, as I now produced a completely red beam. He told me himself that it took him about twenty years to completely master it, though that he rarely used it unless he needed to. Not long after, he showed me his Final Flash attack, followed by the Big Bang Attack. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite handle the concentrated power that the Big Bang ball required, but I did have a slightly easier time with the Final Flash. Both of them were the kind of attack used to wipe out an enemy in one fell swoop, and therefore he suggested that I don't use them unless necessary.

Every week or so, Vegeta would stop my training and tell stories of old planet Vegita and some of his own battles. He even told me some of the Super Saiyan legends, but seemed to be staring at me oddly while he did. None of them were anything I had ever heard before, but in the same token, I doubt many others had either. While I didn't exactly agree with the whole conquest of other worlds, I did find the stories exciting to listen too. I don't know if Piccolo listened to them or not, whenever he was not sparring or training me, he was floating in a sit-down position. I couldn't see him being interested after the Namek incidents that involved Vegeta anyway. Something else that occurred was Vegeta's instruction about Super Saiyan levels.

"I don't think it will be a concern for a long time, but I do need to tell you about the ascension level," he said, transforming to Super Saiyan instantly, but he held his power back considerably.

"This, as you know, is the basic Super Saiyan form," Vegeta explained for a very brief moment. His power flowed a bit more, and his muscles bulged and increased dramatically.

"This is Super Saiyan stage two, this is the form I used against Cell. It has much more power and speed than the basic form, but more power is given and not as much speed. This is a form that is not hard to achieve with some training and concentration. And finally, stage three," he said as his body swelled again, growing impossibly massive under the muscle mass, his power skyrocketed.

"This is the form I don't ever want to see you use, this is stage two. It's power is comparable to the true ascension level, but it has no speed at all. The bulky size prevents the user from successfully taking on an opponent that has any kind of speed. Therefore I forbid you to even try it. Like Stage two it is easy to get to by powering up and increasing your muscle mass to handle the power. Now then," He powered back down to a normal Super Saiyan, and then his energy jumped again, without transforming to anything.

"This is a Super Saiyan at full power. Kakarot and his first brat reached this before I did, this is very difficult to attain. You must adapt to the Super Saiyan form as if you were substituting it for your normal form. This one we will work on over time, and now the ascendant Saiyan," Vegeta stopped before his power raised more, and lightning shot out from him, his ki pushing me back a little bit along with the dust.

"This is Super Saiyan two, a truly ascended Saiyan. This form is superior in every way to all forms of previous levels. I don't expect you to reach this level for some time, if ever. Gohan is the only other one that has reached this one, though I'm sure Kakarot has as well during his dead stay. We will work on building your power up to full first," Vegeta said, powering down again and taking a fighting stance. I didn't need a speech to tell me what that meant.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, my eight-month period, or sixteen hours, was over. On what was supposedly the final day, Vegeta shoved me out the door before I could even warm up.

"Come on boy, I'm tired of this damn room!" he growled. It felt different when I left the room, almost a relief feeling as we had gotten rid of the thin air and the rapid change of temperature. Dende awaited us, holding his big stick just like always. After saying goodbyes to Dende, Piccolo and Popo, we flew straight home.

"Your basic training is complete. In a few days I will assign you a training schedule like Trunks has. Until then take a few days off, you earned it."

"Thank you," I said, proud of myself of my accomplishments.

"Now maybe I can get Trunks out of the house without having to go out myself, damned woman thinks he can't take care of himself. Hell, you two go get Kakarot's second brat and go spar in the woods or something because I'm throwing you both out of the house tomorrow. Go wreck a city for all I care, just stay away from the damn house! Me and the woman...need a day or two without you brats," He smirked slightly.

"I know what you mean. I'm sure Trunks is willing, once you give him a shove out the door. He'll probably ask what's wrong with you when he hears he can go without an adult," I joked.

"More than likely. I don't care if he gets in trouble, more training time with me is what he gets for punishment, hah!" Vegeta laughed.

"Thanks for the warning," I muttered. Soon we came up on West City, then Capsule Corp. I noticed several large ki signals coming from the huge building, and Vegeta noticed too.

"Looks like the woman ordered another reunion, happens every six months or so. Must be because of you," he grunted. We strolled down the hallway toward loud noises and laughter. The laughter ended abruptly when Vegeta appeared to them.

"Hey Vegeta!" I heard a new voice say, "So where's the new kid?"

"The kid is a Saiyan of pure blood, and he can beat any one of you weaklings without much effort!" Vegeta barked, moving in towards Mom. I came in next, a low hush came over the onlookers. Despite what I had just gone through, I felt a few butterflies in my gut. Inside I saw Krillin, Eighteen and their daughter sitting off to the right. I envied Krillin to snag that bombshell, she was just as beautiful as she was in the series, only more so now. Yamcha and Puar were next to them, then old Master Roshi and Oolong. Finally Gohan, Chichi, Goten, Trunks and Mom were on the other side, joined by Vegeta. Mom got me first with the drilling questions, but I never had much of a chance to answer by the time the next one was asked.

"So how'd the training go?"

"I wonder how strong he is?"

"Hey bro, are you a Super Saiyan yet?"

"Oh that kid has potential!"

"Can we eat yet?"

"Oh crap, he's gonna kill me!"

I glanced over at Vegeta as the questions came pouring out, he gave me a nod. I transformed to Super Saiyan the instant he did, hushing everyone again.

"Does this answer some of your questions?" I asked. A bunch of nods followed, along with gawking looks. I powered down and took a seat between Roshi and Gohan. The room then erupted with general talk, instead of the common subject.

"So kid, I hear you got to train with Vegeta in the time chamber today. Must've been rough, but you're still alive," Oolong said from the other side of the old man.

"Yeah well, rough isn't the correct word, but it all worked out," I said slowly. Oolong seemed relieved that I didn't bite his head off instead. Roshi started to say something to that, but then Mom walked over to talk to Eighteen, and he had to stare at her walk across the room, drawing a scowl from Vegeta.

"Easy old man. You're already been targeted," I muttered as Roshi eyed Vegeta with slight fear.

"Hey Verto," Gohan said, "Wanna go with me and the boys tomorrow? We're going to explore a cave in the south somewhere. The boys heard that it was haunted, so naturally they're begging me to take them now to find it. Even if we don't find anything, we can still test your skills with a match!"

"Yeah that sounds good, odds are me and Trunks will be over early anyway. Vegeta's gonna throw us out in the morning. I'm guessing the marital activities has something to do with it," I said, laughing a little.

"Good, sounds like a plan!" Gohan said happily, "I may need another adult around anyway!" he said with a wink.

As the little get-together wore on, eventually everyone who hadn't met me yet came over to say hello, the occasional question of my home world came up. Fortunately, Mom had already told them about the time-dimensional thing so I didn't have to explain that. When Krillin came up and shook my hand, I pulled him close enough to whisper.

"You're a lucky little bastard you know!" I said.

"Yeah I am a little aren't I? Hahahaha!" he laughed. Eighteen didn't really say much of a hello, just gave me a nod, then back to conversation with Mom or Chichi. Roshi and Oolong kept pressing a few limits though with their drooling over the ladies. One particular advance got them a death glare from Vegeta, quite often enough to make anyone stop. Only more so when he asked them if they knew where King Kai's planet was because they'd be going there soon at the rate they were going. After that they stayed away, but eyes stayed glued.

Yamcha greeted me last, "So I heard you beat up on Tien, how'd that happen?"

"That would be Vegeta's new found gambling habit, but he was right on when he made that bet. Poor Tien and Piccolo didn't know I had turned Super Saiyan the day before," I chuckled a little.

"Well if Tien was beat as badly as Vegeta was boasting about, I'd never ask to spar with you. I would just be signing my death warrant against Super Saiyan," Yamcha said. As it slowly got late, the Z fighters began to leave one by one. After the last one, Mom hustled me to jump in the bath right away. I didn't blame her either, my clothes were pretty shredded, not to mention Vegeta didn't really care for bathing, just training, so I smelled rather bad. After a long and relaxing bath, one that she demanded she scrub me up herself, I threw on some new clothes that Mom had brought me and promptly crashed in a relaxing bed for once.

* * *

"GET UP YOU BRATS!" was the first thing I heard in the morning. Almost at the same time, both me and Trunks opened our doors to see Vegeta in the hallway.

"You have two minutes to get dressed and get out. Move it!" he shouted. I wasted no time in looking in the dresser for clean clothes to throw on. I got a pleasant surprise as well as Mom had done some shopping or something and I now had a full supply of clothes, as well as training and fighting gi's to wear. Since we were going to a cave, I selected a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of baggy pants. Literally throwing on the shoes and wrapping my tail around my waist, I rushed out of my room. I almost ran into Trunks on the stairwell, and we vacated the building just before time was up. Trunks wore blue shorts and green Capsule hooded sweater.

"Let's get going before your dad kills us for sticking around any longer," I suggested. Trunks groggily nodded and we took off towards Gohan's house. About two minutes passed in silent flight before I noticed Trunks staring at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Man, I can't believe my dad got you this strong already. This sucks! I was hoping to be the stronger one for awhile!" Trunks said in a pathetic voice.

"Your dad isn't the one that did all the work, that would be me. Sorry, but I was rather motivated with him just being there, never mind shouting into my ear all the time. All he really did was beat the hell out of me and teach me the moves, that's it. In actuality, Piccolo probably taught me more, but I'm the one who learned it," I admitted.

"Yeah, but its like you got a head start on everyone else," he whined again.

"Alright, look at it this way, it'll be me and you in the gravity room quite often I imagine. Prove it to him then by beating me, good luck though," I said with a grin. Trunks nodded, feeling better about the whole issue.

* * *

We arrived about thirty minutes later, just in time to see Goten pop out of a bush to chase a frog. Gohan came out a few seconds later, he wore a blue shirt and black pants, Goten was wearing the usually orange gi.

Gohan looked us over as he lifted off, "I see Vegeta got you guys up and out quickly!"

"Gohan? Have you ever been to this cave?" I asked.

"No actually, supposed to be an old part of an ancient city with a mystical past. It has been said that anyone who goes there, never comes back, I don't buy that for a minute," he explained.

"Probably an old saying to keep people away," I suggested.

"So, will there be buried treasure down there?" Trunks asked.

"Don't know, we can look though," Gohan said. After about forty minutes of flying at a decent but not fast pace, we came to a small island with a mountain on it, maybe a mile in diameter at the most.

"I think this is it, it looks the same as it did on the map. The cave entrance should be on the east side of the mountain," Gohan said, as if he had memorized it. Sure enough, there was a hole in the side of the rock, we flew down to investigate.

"Well this is it. Let's get inside, I noticed a nasty looking storm coming this way!" he said, already walking inside. We followed slowly, taking in the sights until we ran out of light. That's when Gohan made a ki ball and held it in his hand up in the air for some lighting. The instant the light came up, we saw why not many people returned from this island. There were skeletons everywhere!

Goten and Trunks gasped at first before excitement sank in, "COOL!" they both said with big grins on their faces.

"I wonder what killed them all..." Gohan asked. That's when I noticed something out of place, a light on the far end of the room we were in.

"Maybe the answer is over there, I see a light source," I pointed out.

"Let's check it out then, " Gohan said, heading straight for the lighting. We discovered a doorway to the room the light came from, and proceeded inside. The room was large, but not huge, there were strange symbols and designs on the walls and on the floors. There was a large fire burning on the far side, providing the light source and heat.

"I wonder if someone or something lives here..." Trunks asked.

"Dunno, the fire looks pretty fresh, so it's a good assumption," Gohan observed.

"Well look what I found, four mortals to play with!" said a dark and creepy voice. We all spun around to see a very old man with a long beard and a robe on.

"Now how to entertain myself, oh you are four strong beings, and you?" He looked at me.

"What about me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and scowling slightly. Vegeta's bad attitude had rubbed off a bit, though Piccolo's wasn't much better.

"It's just that I never thought I would meet you so soon. Nevertheless I feel I must prepare you just a little for your destiny, ahem. A great evil exists in a few other dimensions, each are different then this one. I want you to go defeat each evil one by one, some may be weak, some may be strong, are you four up for the challenge? If not, that's ok, but I can't let you leave now that you've found me. If you defeat all the evils, I will allow you to live and leave," the old man preached. _Okay, I think I'm lost here. How in the hell does he even know me?_

Predictably, Trunks reacted first, "Hey lame brain! Who put you in charge? You can't keep us here. How about I come over there and knock a few years out of your ancient head!"

"By all means, go ahead and try!" the old man said, waving his hand. Trunks flew straight at him, only to be stopped by an invisible force midway and left floating in mid air, struggling to move. "Anyone else? Even your Saiyan powers will not save you from my magic, unless you accept my challenge and defeat all the evils in the different worlds!" the old man taunted.

Gohan panicked, "Okay, we'll do it. Just let Trunks go right now!"

"Very well, after you defeat the evil in each dimension a blue portal will appear and take you to the next one, farewell!" he said, as the room faded to black. Trunks landed on his rear, but got up when the room changed to black.

* * *

"Man Gohan, why did you have say yes? I bet we could've taken him!" he whined.

"First, we don't know that. He did that little trick pretty easily, plus I couldn't take the risk. If we do what he asks he just may let us go. Do you have anything better to do? You wanted some adventure after all," Gohan pointed out. Trunks muttered something under his breath.

"I'd like to know what the hell he was talking about when he referred to me. I've officially been here for what, two and a half days?" I asked.

"Something like that. Maybe he's a prophet too," Gohan replied.

All of a sudden the room flashed a bright white, and we were standing in a field, most likely in a park. We heard sounds behind us, sounding slightly like a battle. When we turned around, we saw five teenagers in rather normal clothes like my world, fighting a bunch of guys in gray with white armor looking outfits and really ugly looking faces. Then we saw something rather disgusting on the back end, it was some kind of strange beast. It looked like something out of a bad horror movie, and it was shouting orders and then started attacking the five teens. From what I could tell, it was some sort of monster with mainly brown skin and a wicked looking horn. It didn't feel that strong overall, but then again my strength had increased a great deal, so a lot of things felt weaker now that I could sense power levels. The ugly things in gray attacked kind of goofy, mostly dancing around dodging. I searched the groups for ki signals, the five teens were pretty normal for humans that I had been around. The monstrosities were about the same, not really much to be concerned with. The boss monster was about five times higher than any one of the gray things, enough to beat up the teens without much effort.

"You suppose they need help?" Gohan asked.

I shrugged, "They might, the old guy said a great evil, maybe this is it. This seems oddly familiar to me for some reason, let's see what happens. I think the humans there are going to do something, they're outmatched if they don't soon. I'm not sure, but I'm positive I've seen something like this before."

"Okay let's continue to observe for now, we don't need to draw attention to ourselves just yet," Gohan said, continuing to watch the battle. I glanced around at our surroundings, it was a typical looking park, rather big, and then I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye. It read: "Angel Grove Park."

That's when the realization hit me, "No way!" I said aloud, slapping my hand to my head. _Why am I not surprised, after all I managed to slip into one world based on a TV show._

"What is it Verto?" Gohan asked.

"If I'm right, you'll see pretty soon. And I think I'll be sick at this old wizard's sense of humor," I muttered. As soon as I finished, the five teens backed off, reaching behind their backs and grabbing something. I heard them all yell something at once as they brought whatever it was out, then an explosive smoke cloud covered them for a moment. When it cleared, there were five multicolored uniformed people in place of them. One red, blue, black, yellow, and pink, and all of their power levels had jumped a little.

"Yes it is, it's the god damn power rangers!" I grumbled.

Gohan and the boys gave me funny looks as I told them the story.

"It was a pretty lame TV show on my world, though was popular with some. My little stepbrothers and sisters always had it on when I was babysitting them years ago. It was basically like this, some beast shows up and the five chosen people have to defeat it. They do so by turning into the power rangers and fighting it with their weapons and such. Believe me it wasn't worth watching. Looks like there's an actual reality with them in it," I explained. The irony that I would be explaining something like that to them was astounding. Trunks and Goten wrinkled their noses a bit.

"Sounds corny. Let's just beat the monsters for them, it will be easier. Besides, we can do it with style!" Trunks said, a finger in the air.

"Probably won't have to, they almost always win," I snorted. Just as I said it, the power rangers had busted out some super gun made from their different weapons, and were blasting the beast with it. The monster promptly fell over and blew up. They cheered and posed a little, and then something zapped the monster from the skies. The monster quickly got up and grew to an absurd size.

"Well that's different..." Gohan said, looking up at the huge beast.

"And they can handle that one too. They bring out some random vehicles, make a big robot and then slash it with a sword and kill it. You watch," I growled, annoyed with the whole situation. Sure enough the Megazord showed up after a few minutes while the beast just watched. After robot and beast bashed each other a few times, the robot pulled out a sword and slashed the beast, making it blow up.

"Good call. If they can protect this world, what are we here to do?" Gohan asked.

"Probably to stop the monsters' boss or something. Occasionally in the TV show, some unstoppable force would show up and they'd have trouble with it and lose a few times. They'd pull some fancy trick out of their hat and win in the end. Maybe its something like that, it'll probably display itself soon," I explained, sickened that I knew that much about it all. As I said that, the rangers landed in the field again and powered down to their human looks. All of a sudden, about twenty more monsters of random appearance came out of nowhere along with a bunch of the gray things between the rangers and us. _Well that doesn't usually happen. _In the middle of the pack of beasts was a big red guy with a half metal, half flesh face. He was holding a staff with a Z shape on the end. He looked like the boss of the group, somehow I was glad that I didn't remember his name.

"My lord, there's some puny humans up there!" One of the beasts said, pointing at us.

"Yes, have the putties bring them down here. The rangers won't touch us when we have hostages, they are too noble to do that!"

"At once my lord Zed," the beast said. The beast and a bunch of the putty things began coming towards us. All the while, the red guy, Zed, taunted the rangers.

"So what do we do?" Goten asked.

"What else, fight! These fools do not have a chance!" Trunks yelled. Gohan looked toward me for approval of that action.

"Go ahead, might as well blow the beasts up," I said as I got down in a fighting stance. As the putties got closer, still doing a ridiculous dance, I heavily considered unloading the strongest attack I could muster. The rangers panicked and morphed over again, jumping in front of us, blocking the putties.

"You guys should take off, it's dangerous here!" Red Ranger suggested.

"Do me a favor, stand right there for a few seconds. Trunks, Goten, show these, things, who they're messing with!" I shouted.

"What do you mean kid?" Pink Ranger asked. No later than she had said that, the boys had downed every putty and the brown beast exploded a few seconds later. That caused Zed to turn around, catching interest. Then all the monsters came after us, nineteen in all. And about nineteen ki blasts from Gohan and myself put them all down, smoldering holes in their chests.

If Zed had a jaw, it probably dropped, "Well let's see you handle this!" His staff flashed and all of a sudden all the beasts got up and grew huge like the one before, just more of them this time.

"I don't suppose you kids have the means of handling this do you?" Black Ranger asked.

"Say goodbye to the beasts!" Trunks shouted. All four of us lifted into the air and fired our specialty beams at the monsters, catching a bunch of them on the same beams as they had lined up nicely.

"KamekameHAAA!"

"Masenko-HAAAA!"

"Buster Cannon!"

"Galic Gun, fire!" All of the monsters were vaporized, several by getting caught in a swaying crossfire. I chuckled a bit at Goten, who had slightly screwed up the name of his father's attack, but it didn't matter as it still worked. Zed simple stood there and stared. He was probably stunned speechless, but without much of a face, I couldn't tell.

"We'll meet again!" he yelled as a flash of lightning struck him and he vanished.

"Thanks for the help! But who are you?" Red asked.

"We were sent here to defeat a great evil and we can't leave until we do, we just don't know who or what it is yet. Who we are is not important," I said, speaking for everyone.

"Well our leader Zordon might know what to do, you want to speak with him?" Blue asked.

"Might as well, that way we can get home faster," I said quickly with a deep scowl.

"Okay hang on, we have to teleport you there!" Red said. Gohan and the boys looked over at me funny, I nodded as each of the rangers except the red one grabbed a hold of us. All of a sudden a white blur appeared and surrounded us, then we were cruising through the air, not under our own power. Soon though the white vanished and we were standing in a small dark room, staring at a large white ball.

"Welcome!" came a loud and booming voice. Normally it shouldn't have made a difference how loud it was, but Saiyan hearing was working too well today and it caused me and the others to wince a bit. We turned to see a large blue cylinder and a big head floating in it.

"I am Zordon, we thank you for defeating Lord Zed's monsters. I do not believe that the rangers could've beaten all of them."

"Hey bro, what's with this guy's head? Where's his body at?" Trunks whispered under his breath.

"I am trapped in a Time warp and unable to appear in physical form young one," his voice boomed again.

Trunks' eyes shot open at the fact that Zordon heard him, "Sorry."

"That is all right, you have yet to meet the power rangers face to face, rangers remove your helmets please," Zordon ordered. As they did, I was surprised that they looked just like the actors that played the TV show, almost down to exact hair alignment.

Red started off, "I'm Jason."

Then Pink, "Kimberly." And on down the row, Billy-blue, Trini-yellow and Zach-black.

"What are your names?" Zordon asked.

"I'm Gohan, this is Goten my brother, That's Trunks and his brother, Verto," he explained, pointing to me last. My tail began to twitch, needing a stretch, and since we had already exposed our powers I didn't see any harm in unwrapping it for a minute or two. Right when I did, a certain robot came up behind me.

"AIE-YIE-YIE! Zordon, this one has a tail, might be one of Zed's disguised monsters!" it said.

"Don't fret bucket head. I just needed to stretch, sorry if it scared you tin can," I muttered. We were barely there five minutes and I was already getting sick of this place.

Gohan glanced over at me, "You've been around Vegeta too much!"

"I was with only him and Piccolo for eight months, are you surprised?" I asked back.

Zordon cut in at this point, "So, Saiyans, why is your group here?"

Trunks jumped at that, "How did you know we were Saiyans?"

"Vegeta is the name of the Saiyan home world in a different galaxy then this. The tail and the super powers are a dead giveaway, now please tell us why you are here," Zordon said, a little louder.

Gohan stepped up, "We ran into a tricky wizard and he sent us through time and space to different universes, to fight great evils. We can't leave until we defeat one here. I can only assume that Zed guy is the one we have to beat here. Do you know where to find him? We want to get back home as soon as possible."

"Lord Zed has a castle on the moon, he rarely comes out of it, usually sends his monsters to do his dirty work," Jason said.

"With the impression you boys left today, he's probably running for the nearest corner to hide in!" Kimberly laughed. On cue, a loud siren sounded and red lights flashed everywhere.

"What is that?" Goten shouted over the noise.

"It's annoying that's what!" I shouted back.

"Zed has unleashed his great beast Serpentarra upon the Earth," Zordon announced.

Jason looked confused, "Zordon, I thought Serpentarra was his battleship machine. We destroyed that didn't we?"

Zordon managed to nod, "It is, but he designed it off a living model. It has enough power to destroy the planet ten times over!" All of a sudden I felt a tremendous ki above the building we were in, Gohan and the boys felt it too.

"He's above the command center!" Alpha panicked.

The white ball glowed into a TV type screen, "Come out power rangers! Bring your new friends with you, its time to settle this once and for all!" Zed shouted from atop the beast.

"That's no bluff. That thing is really powerful. Can you get us outside now, or should we just blast out of the roof!" Gohan asked, his seriousness had set in.

"We can help you!" the rangers all said.

"It's better if you don't, sorry to say but you'll only be in the way. Boys, we may have to transform for this one, that ki feels pretty strong," Gohan continued.

"Gohan is right rangers, the Saiyans are the only ones here that are capable of beating such a beast. Your zords would not survive a encounter with it. If there is any transforming going on, you may not want to be near them. Alpha, teleport them directly outside!" Zordon ordered.

"Right away!" And the white beam surrounded us again.

**Power levels**

**Power Rangers: 500-1,000 each, with Megazord: 25,000**

**Zed's monsters: 2,000-3,000 each, large forms: 20,000-30,000**

**Verto: 17,000,000, Super Saiyan: 70,000,000**

**Trunks: 15,000,000, Super Saiyan: 67,000,000**

**Goten: 13,000,000, Super Saiyan: 65,000,000**

**Gohan: 45,000,000, Super Saiyan: 160,000,000**

**Serpentarra: Unknown**

**A/Ns: I listed the Super Saiyan levels because it will be coming up soon anyway, so no harm there. Also, I don't have as much of an issue with Power Rangers as I used to, so I've lightened up a bit about the show ever since. That doesn't mean I watch it religiously like a former roommate from college did. That said, I still HATE it with a passion, not like I do a certain yellow rat but pretty close, which will never change.**


	12. Saiyan, Not Mutant!

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 11: Saiyan, Not Mutant**

Once we appeared outside, I got a good look at Zed's beast. It was a huge black snake-like dragon, at least a thousand feet long and probably two hundred in diameter. The ki coming off the thing was impressive too.

"Ah, the Saiyans show themselves. Kind of odd to find such great warriors out here. No matter, I've encountered your kind before, and you are no match for Serpentarra!" Zed declared.

"Well see about that!" Gohan yelled, powering up. Serpentarra then fired a large red eye beam straight at us. "Deflect that, it could damage the core of this world!" Gohan shouted. Trunks was on top of things as he shot a beam to counter and canceled it out.

"Gohan, let's just finish it off if we can't let a stray beam hit the planet surface! What's the point in trying to fight it if we can just deep-fry it? It's obvious that thing doesn't excel in hand to hand combat!" I shouted.

"Good plan, everyone aim at the head!" Gohan suggested.

"You hear that you ugly red queer? We're gonna have roasted dragon for lunch!" I shouted up with a grin.

"Argh! Wipe them all out Serpentarra!" Zed roared.

"Kamehame..." Gohan and Goten began.

Trunks and I started our own, "Galic gun...FIRE!"

"HAAAA!" We all fired at once, sending two red beams and two blue beams straight at the dragon's head. Right before they hit, the beast fired a large beam from its mouth to counter it, and our attack stopped gaining. They combined into a golden collision with the dragon's red beam and struggled against it.

"Guys, pour more energy into your blasts! Focus!" Gohan shouted. I dumped some more in, increasing the size of my blast, as did Trunks and the others. The dragon suddenly swelled in size from the rear and the swelling flowed forward to its mouth and spewed out a stronger beam that began to knock ours back.

"No way! I didn't think they were this powerful!" I heard Goten and Trunks shout.

"Then let's show them who they're messing with!" I yelled out, turning Super Saiyan and pouring the new ki into the blast. Both boys along with Gohan followed my lead, putting so much energy into the blast that it pushed the red beam back into the mouth of the dragon. The resulting explosion was blinding. When the smoke cleared, Serpentarra's head, as well as half its body, had been vaporized. I checked for signs of it or Zed's ki signal, but both were gone. Letting out a slight sigh, I looked over at Trunks, giving him thumbs up.

"We did it!" Goten yelled happily.

"Hey that was your first real challenge that you defeated!" Gohan pointed out.

"Please, it doesn't count. It was a joint venture," I said.

The rangers appeared behind us, "Thank you for saving this world, I don't think we could've beat that beast," Jason said, shaking Gohan's hand. Gohan, dropping out of Super mode, shook back. The other rangers came up to shake hands and give thanks, Kimberly came up to me and shook her head.

"If you come back again, work on your manners Verto. Here's an incentive," she said, bending down and planting a kiss on my cheek._No, I did not just get kissed by the pink ranger! Then again, if something positive did have to come from this, that was it. _After she got back up and rejoined her group, I heard Goten and Trunks giggling.

I shot a glare at them, "What's so funny?"

"Verto got a girlfriend, Verto got a Girlfriend!" They began to chant.

Blushing a little, I let my pride try to surface, "I do not! She just caught me off guard!" I denied.

"You do too like her! Maybe mom can make another time machine or something so you can date her!" Trunks laughed at me.

"Whatever!" I muttered. Suddenly a large blue portal appeared in front of the command center.

"That must be your cue to go, make it home safe!" Jason said.

"Thanks, we will!" Gohan yelled back, entering the portal, me and the boys followed and the portal closed behind us.

"Thank god were out of there!" I said loudly.

"Oh it wasn't that bad was it?" Gohan asked.

"Live with a college roommate that watches it everyday and even cheers them on. Then you will know the true meaning of lame," I said.

"Verto's right Gohan, that was pretty stupid, the beast was kind of cool. Looked better after we cut it in half, Hahahaha!" Trunks laughed.

* * *

The portal around us shifted to red in color and opened another hole within a few seconds.

"I guess that's where to go next I suppose, lets go guys." Gohan said, exiting through the hole. I frowned slightly, _So enthusiastic. _We followed and the portal closed and vanished behind us. We were in a dark alley, the sky was a yellowish orange color. The buildings nearby had some serious wear and tear on them. All of a sudden we heard a loud female like scream behind us. Running in the general direction of it, we arrived at a dark corner to see five men surrounding a woman. They had removed her jacket and it looked like this was going to turn into a very bad situation for her.

"Stop right there!" Gohan shouted.

One of the men glanced up and snickered, "And what do you and your kids plan on doing about it if we don't?" He then pulled a knife from behind his back.

"Keep going and find out jerk!" Goten shouted at him. I glanced over at Goten's sudden demeanor, sensing that he had a morality problem with this particular situation. That was fine though, I did too.

"Oooo look! A scary toddler, I'm shaking in my boots!" another one taunted. The knife guy rushed at Gohan, only to get the knife knocked out of his hand by Goten before being picked up and thrown into the wall behind the other punks. Goten stood ready for the next assault, but it never came.

The other four instantly panicked, "Dude, that kid's a mutant! I bet they all are! Run!" one shouted. The rest of them grabbed their fallen comrade and fled the scene like scolded dogs.

Gohan's eyes narrowed, "Mutant?" Goten went over to the woman sitting on a pile of trash where the men dropped her.

"You okay lady?" he held out his hand to offer some help. Instead, her eyes went wide and she went running too, in the same direction of the punks.

"Someone help, a mutant is after me!" she screamed some more before running off into the distance.

"Did I just miss something?" Gohan asked.

"What got into her?" Trunks added.

"Mutants? Worn down city, skittish people. Well if the trend is any sign of things to come, I think I know where we are," I started, adding up the information, "There are humans here that develop special powers I bet. Not all of them do, so the ones that are different are referred to as mutants."

Gohan raised an eyebrow, "You mean like us?"

"No, but some of the abilities might be similar. For example one here may shoot fire from his hands, another could freeze things, a few can fly. Maybe turn into metal or manipulate odd things, control the weather. Things like that, not totally natural," I explained.

"Are the mutants bad?" Goten asked.

"Yes and no, most of them probably just seek acceptance and don't get it so they hide their powers. Some might give up on that and become evil as a result of a world that hates and doesn't understand them. Others may form similar groups, but do not promote violence, possibly fight evil mutants. Since that old wizard happened to drop us in on something I had seen on TV before, who's to say he didn't do it again. He did claim that he knew about me remember? And there's only one show I can think of about a group called the X-men. This might be they're world. The X stands for their leader Charles Xavier, a mutant in a wheelchair, he can read and control people's minds, but doesn't use his powers in a bad way. He started a school for such mutants to learn to control their abilities so they can live peacefully with normal humans. The X-men are his students that protect mankind from the evil mutants and such threats. This is my best guess though, I could be wrong," I explained.

"Another TV show eh?" Gohan asked.

"Started off as a comic book series, but yeah. A good one at least, beats the hell outta power rangers!" I added. Before Gohan could ask another question, we heard an explosion and some alarms go off in a nearby street. Rushing out to the street we saw several huge robots land on the far side of the street. A couple of rugged looking people stood on the other side, each of them had notably higher ki than any other nearby human.

"Mutants Sighted, initiating arrest!" One of the robots said.

"Oh yeah, definitely the X-men world," I remarked.

"What are those things Verto?" Gohan asked.

"Those are Sentinels, designed for capturing and or killing mutants. They can fire laser beams out their eyes and hands, not to mention they're size makes them pretty strong," I said in a low voice.

We heard people shouting from afar, "They stole food from our market! Make them pay!"

One of the supposed mutants stood forward and pleaded with the crowd, "We're just trying to live, the city has taken everything from us just because were a little different. You would be doing the same thing!"

"No I wouldn't, I'd rather shoot myself then to live as a filthy mutant!" The taunting continued for a few minutes.

"Wow, these people are really mean to them!" Goten said in awe. Just then more robots came flying in, totaling fifteen or so.

"Verto, can they beat all those robots?" Gohan asked.

"While we don't know what they can do yet, I'm guessing no." I said, thinking what he was and letting my power level rise a little. Just then a black jet flew in and landed atop one of the tall buildings. I sensed five strong ki signals exit the jet and jump down in front of us. It was the X-men themselves, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Gambit and Rogue. _An absurdly good guess, Captain Claws even has the yellow spandex on._

"Looks like the tin cans are stirring up trouble again Cyc," Wolverine grunted.

Storm looked back at the four of us, "You four should run and take cover so not to be hurt!".

"Mutants detected, members of the Xavier organization. Seek and capture, destroy if necessary," one of the Sentinels flashed and beeped to its counterparts.

"Looks like you hit this one right on the head Verto," Gohan noted.

"Yeah, I hate being right sometimes," I said with a grin.

"I wonder, you ever see a show about us. It's possible right?" he asked, even though he was probably only joking. My eyes widened slightly in surprise, but I declined to answer as the battle had started.

Another Sentinel dropped in right between the X-men and us and fired laser beams out of its hands at them. And soon it was an all out battle. The mutants who were to be arrested got zapped and tied up by metal ropes from a couple of Sentinels and were taken away. The X-men were fighting the rest of them, and getting beat up a little, but taking down a few sentinels as well, especially when Gambit was throwing charged cards and Wolverine was leaping at them with his adamantium claws. One bot punched at Rogue, she caught its huge fist by the finger and proceeded in swinging it around in the air. However before she could release, the bot blasted her point blank and she dropped out of the air like a rock and hit the ground hard.

"I think we may have to help them out Gohan," I started to say. Then the same bot came down at Rogue with its huge foot, not stopping, I knew the impact would not be pretty. Before I could move though, Gohan sped in and grabbed Rogue up off the ground and carried her to safety. Laying her down gently, he turned to stare down the sentinel. The bot came after him only to get its head knocked off by Gohan's fist. When that happened, all of the bots and X-men stopped to notice, not to mention the onlookers. Then the bots started flashing and beeping again.

"Unregistered mutants sighted! Scanning with possible matches to rumored mutants...no match found! Apprehend mutants!"

"Trunks, Goten, go!" I shouted as I attacked one of the closest robots. I met it in the air and punched it in the chest plate. It flew back pretty far but came back at me and shot laser beams. I countered with a blast of my own and blew it up. One laser grazed my side, stinging a little bit, but nothing major. I did take note of it though. Another robot was standing over Cyclops, who was blasting the hell out of it with his eye beam, not having much effect at all. I sent another blast at it's neck, decapitating it and thus it exploded. Another one came toward me from above but at a sluggish pace. I flew straight at it like an arrow and plowed right through its chest and out the other side, then turned and blasted it into debris.

I looked around, Trunks and Goten were making mince meat out of the other ones as well, relieving the tired X-men. Gohan was in the process of trying to wake Rogue up, as she had been knocked unconscious. Me and the boys landed next to him as Wolverine was cutting apart the last Sentinel.

"Hey, wake up!" Gohan urged on, and as if she heard she snapped awake.

"Ooo my knight in shining armor is cute!" Rogue said cooing.

Gohan turned red, "Uh, are you ok? Miss?"

I laughed, "Careful there Gohan, she just might kiss you!" Goten and Trunks gagged immediately, Gohan just turned even redder.

"The kid is right Suga, I owe ya for saving my skin! Oh but I shouldn't, don't wanna hurt ya. Shucks, maybe next time," Rogue said, standing.

"Thanks for helping us with those sentinels, had you not been here I'm not sure if we could have beaten them all, anything we can do for fellow mutants?" Cyclops asked as he walked up. _Oh shit, they think were mutants,_ I let the thought ring through my head for a moment. _Well I might be with the ape transformation, but we're still Saiyans not from this world, the truth is better. Its not like they haven't dealt with aliens, _I compromised with myself and spoke before Gohan had the chance.

"Actually Cyclops, we're not mutants, were Saiyans," I said, as simple as I could. If only things were that simple. Wolverine already had me dumped on the ground with those sharp ass claws in my face before I could react. Had I known the man-beast was going to do that, he wouldn't have gotten me on the ground. I inwardly cursed myself for allowing it to happen.

"Ok bub, start spilling the beans, what the hell is a Saiyan, and how did you know his name?" he growled.

"Well he sure cuts to the chase," Trunks said.

"He probably just guessed cause you called him Cyc, the kid could hear you no problem Wolvie. And he shoots beams out his eyes, therefore Cyclops. It ain't all that hard to figure out suga," Rogue said, pulling up on his shoulder.

Wolverine did let up a little bit, but kept his claws about a foot away from me anyway, "Well?"

"Gohan, you're better at history lessons, fill grumpy in," I snorted the last part, showing plenty of resistance given the situation.

"Ok, see what a Saiyan is..." Gohan began telling them the typical what the hell is a Saiyan answer. I noticed he left out the details about Super Saiyans, but we hadn't used that transformation here yet so no harm. Throughout a full ten minute, detail heavy conversation, I mentally prayed that he wouldn't mention anything special about me. Luckily, he didn't.

"..and then we got stuck here, right before those robots showed up," Gohan finished.

"So what do you have to defeat here?" Storm asked after introducing herself.

"That I'm not sure of, I can't sense any extremely high power levels except for around here. Unless it has something to do with those robots. They have no ki, or life energy, to sense," Gohan said, curiously tugging at that subject.

"Well the Sentinels have been very active lately. They've tracked down a lot of mutants and have them rounded up somewhere. We're not sure where though, we haven't been able to pinpoint their base," Cyclops cut in, "You may come back to the mansion with us, Professor Xavier might be able to help you out. And we'd be glad to let you stay for a little while. You did help us back there." Gohan glanced at me and the boys, and I dropped my power level ever so slightly to show my trust and approval, an older trick that Piccolo taught me. Sort of a mental nod without moving.

"Yeah that sounds fine. Can we get something to eat there, we haven't had any food for awhile and we've got quite the appetite," Gohan said with a sheepy grin on his face. I smirked slightly, wondering if Gohan was into mind reading. Though the way my stomach was singing, it wouldn't have been necessary.

"No problem, should be just enough there for one cute guy and three adorable kids. We haven't had time to go shopping lately with all the Sentinels roaming," Rogue said, giving Gohan the look over.

Gohan was blushing too much to realize what she actually said, so I handled it, "Hey guys, did Gohan forget to mention how much Saiyans eat? Let me put it simply, an army of a hundred men couldn't out eat the four of us in one meal. May I suggest the all you can eat buffet line?" Rogue and Gambit both allowed their jaws to drop, and if we could see them, I'm sure Cyclops' eyes were wide open as well. The boys giggled as Gohan put on the patented Son grin, scratching the back of his head.

"He's right, we tend to eat a little bit more than average."

"All right, we can eat in a few hours. First we return to headquarters and talk with Professor Xavier, he'll know what to do. He always does," Cyclops said once he found his voice. As if the ship heard him, the black jet dropped out of the sky and its stairs opened up.

As soon as we were in and seated, Cyclops took a seat in the front, "Ok Jean, I'll fly from here." I hadn't even noticed the extra ki signature, not to offend the X-men, but their ki signatures just weren't that high. Most of them were higher than someone like Videl or Mr. Satan, but the weaker ones couldn't be much that higher than Roshi.

Jean then turned in her chair and formally introduced herself, "Jean Gray."

Gohan started to explain what Saiyans were again before being cut off, "I already heard Gohan, no need for explanation," Jean said turning around again. When Gohan got confused on how she could've heard, I decided to test my own abilities.

"_Gohan, this is Verto. Don't mind her, she has telepathic and telekinetic abilities, she probably just overheard us. In a matter or speaking,"_ I thought to him directly. It was my first try to someone other than Piccolo, so I was glad to see it worked.

"_Nice, so Piccolo taught you that? That'll be handy if we want to keep a conversation private,"_ Gohan thought back, grinning slightly. Everyone else in the room looked confused as we nodded towards each other, even the boys.

"_Yeah, I'm just trying to keep the one in yellow off our backs, he seems suspicious of everything,_" I replied.

"Oh okay, that makes sense," he whispered back. When I turned back, I noticed Wolverine send a glance in my direction, and then turned back around. _Oh great, that plan just hit massive failure. Just what we needed, more of metal man's shit_._ At least he didn't hear me, though I'd bet Jean might have._ I stared forward towards the red haired woman, but she didn't react physically.

* * *

After about twenty minutes, the jet descended sharply, "We're about there right now. Blackbird to X mansion," he said, pressing a button.

"McCoy here," a voice said on the other end.

"Beast, open the launch bay doors, and prepare for visitors. We'll meet in the war room."

"Actually Scott, there's something strange going on here as well. The professor is missing, and so is one of the small jets, we can talk in the war room," Beast explained. At the words "professor is missing", Wolverines claws shot out, as if to stab the words themselves.

"Okay, we will arrive in two minutes, blackbird out."

My tail unraveled itself, my curiosity stewing just as it did. Rogue and Gambit both gasped when my tail popped out of hiding around my waist._Ugh, more of the weird treatment, better get used to it. Even around people like this._

"What is that suga?" she asked.

"Oh just my tail, all Saiyans are both with tails remember? Mine just hasn't been removed," I explained.

"I thought having a tail was dangerous, that's how Gohan described it?" Storm asked from behind me.

"Me and Trunks' ...father, he let us keep ours, Trunks lost his accidentally when caught it in a door and pulled a little too hard. End of story," I raised my power level sharply before the others could ask about that lie. Gohan and Trunks accepted that, but of course Goten was confused. Recognizing the confused look and what it would lead to, I cut Goten off before he could ask the deadly question.

"Hey Goten, after we get something to eat, you wanna spar with me? I haven't had a chance to truly test my skills on anyone yet."

The confusion was instantly gone, "You mean it, really? Yay! I get to spar with Verto, I get to spar with Verto!" he chanted. I sighed,_easy cure to a potentially bad problem_. Jean gave me a narrow eyed glance, but just shook her head slightly and kept whatever she may have sensed to herself.

"We're entering the hanger now," Cyclops announced, though the sudden loss of daylight was a giveaway. Walking out, the hanger was pretty similar to the TV-anime series. A couple of jets and such, but nothing really stood out.

"Follow me," Jean said, taking the lead through a door and into a long hall. The floor was shiny silver, and the doors were marked with a big X on them, the hall was in an oval shape from wall to wall. Finally coming up to a big door, it opened and we stepped inside to kind of a lounge, with a large sphere in the middle of a bunch of chairs. Then I noticed two people sitting on the other side of the sphere, fussing with a computer control station of some sort. We got closer to see that one of them was huge and blue, covered in fur, Beast. The other was a teenage girl, probably about fourteen with a long yellow coat on with matching gloves. It had to be Jubilee, the girl who could shoot plasma energy from her hands. Beast stood and introduced himself and Jubilee to us, and got a crash course on what a Saiyan is in return.

"So Beast, any word from the professor?" Rogue asked.

"Only this message, and we haven't been able to listen to it yet. It was encrypted to turn on once Cyclops entered his command codes," the big blue man said. Cyclops went around to the control station and beckoned us take a seat around the sphere. He punched in a few buttons and the sphere blipped on, showing a three dimensional image of a bald man, and he spoke slowly.

"Greetings X-men, I have left on a journey to meet with Magneto. It seems he wants to discuss the Sentinel problem, and something else. As much as I would have wanted you to come with, you were needed elsewhere. I know of your Saiyan friends arrival, and I will assist once this chore is done. If I am not heard from within twenty-four hours, come to these ordinances in Tibet. It's where Magneto requested us meet. Allow your Saiyan friends to help in any endeavors you undertake, they can assist and protect you should the need arise, until then, farewell," And the head vanished.

"We found the message about forty minutes ago when Jubilee noticed that one of the jets were gone. He's been gone for about an hour according to the hanger's computer," Beast said solemnly.

My eyes narrowed almost in tune with Gohan's, "_Gohan, have we even been here an hour?_"

He kept his eyes forward, "_No. How could anyone have known we would be here?"_

"_Good question,"_ I replied silently.

"Now we have to wait for him to call or not call. I say we all fly down there and tear Magneto a new one. I bet he's just trying to get the Professor in a vulnerable spot to kill him, he's been trying to for years," Wolverine suggested, letting his claws fly out again.

"No Logan, best we wait for the news. If none comes then we go. Plus the Sentinels have been attacking mutants every night, we will be needed here," Storm said.

"So just sit around and wait, worst plan ever!" he grumbled as his claws retracted.

"Maybe you just need to cool it for awhile. Logan and Jubilee, take our guests to the nearest buffet line. From what I hear you better bring plenty of money as well," Cyclops ordered.

"Fine, we can take my jeep," said Wolverine, removing his yellow hood and disappearing for a minute before returning in street clothes. His blue hair stuck up in a fashion that almost rivaled a Saiyan's hair.

"Lets go get you monkeys fed," he said.

Gohan and I growled immediately, "Don't call us that," Gohan said. Logan gave off a slightly surprised glance, as if he hadn't expected that reaction from anyone other than the mirror.

"Don't call us monkeys, it insults the Saiyan heritage," I finished.

"Whatever," he grunted. I scowled after Logan said that, but shrugged it off and followed him to an elevator that took us upstairs and into a huge garage.

"The one over there," Logan said, pointing out an orange jeep. We piled in the backseat, and needless to say, it was a tight fit. I sat on one side, Gohan on the other side with Goten sitting on his lap, Trunks crammed onto the side of my seat and sat about halfway on it, mostly in the middle of the jeep. We had a silent drive for the first five minutes with that insult of Logan's was still fresh in the air.

Finally Jubilee spoke up, "So what kind of powers do you guys have? The kids seem a little young to have them."

"We're born with our powers and abilities, and really it isn't anything a normal human can't do with some time. All that we need to do is train to develop and use them correctly," Gohan explained. Goten was bouncing on his lap a little, happy to be eating soon.

"So what all can you guys do?" she pressed.

"Fly, super strength and speed, shoot energy blasts, and fight. Like I said, any human could do all that to with the proper training. The only thing with us is that it's sort of in our blood. We always love a good challenge, no matter how dangerous it is," Gohan laughed a little at the last part.

Jubilee let that information absorb, but before she could ask another question Logan stopped abruptly, "We're here."

**Power levels:**

**Serpentarra: 170,000,000**

**Kamehameha-Galic Gun blast: 350,000,000**

**Mutants: 150-30,000(varies with abilities)**

**Sentinels: 25,000 each**


	13. Abduction

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 12: Abduction**

The buffet line that Wolverine took us to was wide and long with plenty of variety. They didn't seem to mind when we piled stuff on the trays instead of plates, as the tray could only hold two or three plates. However everyone in the restaurant began to stare when we began going for the third and fourth full helpings. Right around the tenth, pretty much everyone present stopped eating to watch us gobble down food at insane speeds. We finally slowed right around the fifteen tray full of food, though I wasn't sure how accurate that was. I didn't really notice which food tasted good or bad, it was down my throat before I could make that kind of decision.

"Good grief! I'm glad Cyclops said to come to an all you can eat. They just stressed that term greatly," Jubilee said the same thing that just about everyone else in the room was thinking.

"Well they haven't asked us to leave yet, so I'd say they aren't completely freaked out," I said with a grin.

Just as we began to consider desert, a crash sounded and a police car came flying through the restaurants front window and crashed into a wall. Needless to say, every normal human in the room panicked and fled quickly. A large man, and I mean large, came through the new hole in the window. He was covered up to his large arms and knees in copperish armor, a big metal helmet around his head only revealed his eyes and his mouth. His ki was pretty big for a human or a mutant, but not much of a threat to us. We continued munching as he stomped up to our table, leaving big prints in the floor. Logan and Jubilee had already jumped up to confront this newcomer, but we kept eating whatever crumbs were left. Logan's claws were out and ready to slice while Jubilee had her energy blasts ready to go.

"Juggernaught! What the hell do you want?" Logan asked quickly.

"You will come with me, or do I have to pound you first? And then drag your carcass to my employer?" he cackled at the thought.

"You think we'd go down without a fight? That helmet must be cutting off blood to your brain again, assuming there is one under there," Logan mocked.

"Bring it on you little worms," the big guy laughed some more. Logan dove at him, only to be caught and held by both arms in the monster's big hand. Then he was tossed roughly into a neighboring wall. Before Jubilee tried anything though, Gohan stood up wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Okay big guy, what's the deal? Can't you see we were enjoying a nice meal here, now you show up and ruin it all? Don't ever interrupt my meal," he said with a semi-frown.

"Or what, skinny mutant? You gonna hurt me, go ahead and try," he mocked.

"Allow me Gohan," I said, still eating a bunch of grapes. Putting up my hand, I sent a weak blast at the Juggernaught. What was weak to me, wasn't so weak to him, and he went flying into the streets.

"What a shame, the guy is so beefed up that he fell before he made it a half mile," I laughed in a cocky voice. From the general area he landed, I felt his ki double in strength. It still wasn't much in comparison to us, but to everyone else around it was a threat.

"Goten, your turn," Gohan said. Juggernaught tossed a truck through the broken out window, Goten knocked it aside and flew out the window at Juggernaught, giving him a weak batch of punches to the gut. Those punches had enough power though to phase the big monster, and he fell to a knee.

"I'm grabbing some ice cream, Trunks can go next," I said as I got up, barely keeping an eye on the battle.

"How is this possible? How can this mutant kid be stronger than me, impossible!" he yelled out, and threw a big handed punch at Goten. Goten caught the blow, and barely budged from the impact of the huge hand.

"Is this all? This isn't very fun!" Goten mocked. All of a sudden a huge ki appeared behind Goten. I threw down my food when I felt it and rushed outside with the other two Saiyans. The newcomer nailed Goten in the back of the head, knocking him off guard and out cold. When we arrived outside to see who and what it was, we saw a tall figure in a gray and robot like suit, with quite the ugly head.

"Apocalypse!" Logan shouted.

"Juggernaught, grab the boy! We're leaving." the owner of the huge ki said. Juggernaught reached down and snatched up Goten, then both Apocalypse and Juggernaught vanished in a flash of light.

"NO!" Gohan shouted. I couldn't say I felt much better, we had just messed up big time. I began searching for his ki, but could not find one since he was out cold anyway.

"Damnit, if only we had been paying attention!" Gohan shouted, causing a few things near his feet to rise and disintegrate.

Logan and Jubilee approached us cautiously, "Sorry, that was Apocalypse, one of the toughest powers in this universe. He creates disaster for everyone and everything. I'm sorry you had to get caught up in this mess," Logan said, a little remorse in his voice.

"Well once Goten wakes up, we should be able to track them with his ki. Then were going to take that monster out," Gohan said in a deadly cold voice. Everyone observed Gohan change from the happy teen to the raging beast in no time at all, you could almost sense the pity for the pour soul who messed with this his family. I heard a beeping sound, and Jubilee pulled out a cell phone type device.

"Hello? Okay, we're on our way! That was Storm, the professor just contacted us, I'll stay here and help cleanup this place. Logan, they need you guys to head back to talk to the professor," Jubilee said, relaying the message.

* * *

Back at the mansion, we listened to Xavier's message, though I doubt me, Trunks or Gohan really heard the full details. We were still stewing over Goten's kidnapping.

"X-men, I have tracked Apocalypse's operation to the general area of Siberia. Whatever the Sentinels are flaring up about is anyone's guess at this time. Magneto says they have a base somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, from what Magneto has told me Apocalypse is not involved with them. He is however planning to open up some sort of gateway to the flow of time. If he gets to open such a gate, all of the universe would be in danger. I know the Sentinels must be dealt with, but Apocalypse needs to be stopped now. I request that you ask for help from the Saiyans, for they may have the power to stop him before he gets too entrenched. Meet me at these co-ordnances as soon as possible, I've noticed Sentinel activity in this area as well so we need to hurry. Magneto! watch out...! fizz..Surrender Mutants..." The message ended in static as the large booming voice of a Sentinel could be heard.

"Oh no!" Storm cried out.

"I guess we know where we're going then, let's go. If that Apocalypse guy has harmed a hair on my little brother's head, he will wish for death!" Gohan growled.

Just then Gambit came running in, "You gotta see this, turn it to the channel fifteen!" Jean punched it in and the TV signal came in over the hologram, but very poorly so we all had to stand on one side to view it. The sound wasn't very good, pretty fuzzy, but the picture told it all. It showed Jubilee helping the restaurant owners and staff cleanup after Juggernaught's mess. Then several Sentinels showed up and captured her, flying off towards the west.

Wolverine was literally threatening the picture, "Damnit! I should've stayed with her!" I quickly searched for her power signal, fortunately a mutants was higher than a humans and could be detected easier. That doesn't mean I didn't struggle, I was still very new at it.

"I barely sense her, but I got her, heading in that direction. Pretty far, damn I can't keep the signal, lost it!" I shouted quickly.

"She has a tracking device implanted on her earring, let's take a look." Cyclops said, punching in buttons at the panel controls. A large screen popped up and showed the western United States. Sure enough, a small white blip appeared in the Rockies of Western Montana.

"Shit, we won't be able to rescue her and get to the professor in time," Wolverine cursed.

"You forget, you're working with Saiyans. We can split up, since the Apocalypse issue is bigger, Gohan and Trunks go there. I will go with someone to Montana and spring Jubilee out. Then I can catch up by following your ki signals," I suggested.

"You sure Verto? Taking on a whole base of those machines is no picnic, you may be powerful, but you will need help if you intend to take the whole thing out," Cyclops said with a worried expression.

Gohan put up his hand, "He probably won't need help at all, but since we can't isolate extremely small power levels, one of you should go with him at least to show him where. Trunks and I will go with the rest of you to take out this Apocalypse jerk." Everyone stared at Gohan's serious demeanor again, but it made sense.

"So who's going with me?" I asked.

Wolverine stepped up right away, "I should kid, it's my fault this happened. I shouldn't have let her stay behind, I'll go with you."

"Its settled then, we will all depart right away. Verto, Logan, when you get Jubilee, come to Siberia and find the blackbird's tracking signal. Either that way or with that ki sense thing you guys do. And don't try anything risky, Logan. Just get Jubilee and get out! We'll see you there!" Cyclops said. Wolverine motioned for me to come with him to the hanger. There we jumped in a small two-seater jet, and blasted off towards Montana. The blackbird passed over us a few minutes afterwards.

"So what did he mean by trying something risky?" I asked, though I probably didn't need to.

"I just might get the inkling to wipe out all of the tin cans at once," he growled.

"Not when I beat you to it," I replied with a grin.

* * *

After four hours of flight, the jet's radar blipped with Jubilee's tracking signal.

"Its just ahead kid, we should probably land so the trash compactors don't shoot us out of the sky," he said. On cue, an alarm sounded, and four laser beams smashed the side of the small craft, disabling it in midair.

"Oh crap, hang on kid!" he shouted. I did so, seeing the ground coming up fast was enough of a hint to do that. While the impact may not have killed us, it was probably going to hurt. We crashed hard, throwing both of us forward. But when Logan's seat broke at the top part, my head went right into his back and struck the bone beneath the skin with a nice loud clang. After that I wasn't sure which star was prettiest of the ones dancing around my head as I passed out.

I woke up hanging on a wall by chains. There was also a large device with a big red light strapped around my neck and basically poking into my skin with very tiny shards, enough to irritate me. I looked up to see a man with white-gray hair in a purple and red outfit chained up just across from me, a device around his neck too. He was awake and observing me. I pulled a little at the chains, and then noticed when I tried that the neck device stole some energy from me. It wasn't a lot since I didn't put much effort into it, but probably a lot to anyone else.

"It's no use son, the device prevents a mutant from using his powers. Not to mention that you probably wouldn't break those chains by yourself anyway," the old man said. Rather than trying to argue, I looked around instead, seeing many other mutants around me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am called Magneto by many. My mutant power being control of magnets and metal of such properties. I saw Wolverine enter with you, but I do not know you, explain please," he said with a small smirk. _Pretty polite for a bad guy._

"I am Verto, me and some friends are kind of helping the X-men right now," I said, trying to disclose the rest.

But Magneto was smarter than that, "And what's your mutant power, must be great if it's shown up in such a young child."

"Not a mutant," I said in stride.

"What?! And you're assisting the Xmen? Maybe you're a mutant without powers yet, but that makes you basically human. No matter how gifted you are, you can't be that much help! Charles must have lost his mind this time," Magneto snorted with a mocking tone.

"I never said I was human. I am a Saiyan, alien to you, and we're from a different reality. Sent here to defeat a great evil, some prank by a wizard that I'd love to throw through a wall right about now. We have to beat the evil here to go onto the next one. I'm assuming that Apocalypse guy might be the one here, he captured one of my friends. The others in my group are with the rest of the X-men heading for his base. I came here to rescue Jubilee with Wolverine after she got nabbed by the robots. We crashed incoming and I woke up from it a minute ago," I explained, summing it all up as fast as possible.

Magneto took a second to absorb that, "What exactly is a Saiyan. What's different from a mutant or a human?"

"Basically we look human, but we possess impossible strength and power. Fighters to the core, and we can fly with the right training. We can also shoot energy beams. Long story short, you name it, and we could probably pull it off somehow. So even if this thing can hold me back now, just wait till I start trying." With that said, I began powering up slightly. The device took notice and tried to suck out my energy again, only to explode around my neck. Magneto's jaw quivered a little while I was breaking the chains off easily. I noticed that once the device was gone, my stolen energy came back quickly, luckily though I hadn't lost much of it.

"It overloaded! I've never seen one overload before, not like that!"

"Easy old man, you might have heart failure! Give the kid some credit, he may have just saved us all!" I heard Wolverine say, he was chained up a little farther down from me. I looked up and down the hallway to see several mutants chained up. I tore off Magneto's restraints and began to unlock others in the process, as did he. From the TV show, I recognized a few of them, some evil, some good, and some neutral. But they all shared the idea of leaving. We freed about twenty of them, including Logan and Jubilee. No Sentinels had shown up yet, or even an alarm, quite a surprise. A small semi-circle formed around Magneto and I, a really fat guy stumbled up after being freed. I didn't see how he could walk to be honest, but looks can be deceiving.

"Thank ya Magneto! The Blob owe you favor now!" he said.

"Don't thank me Blob, thank the alien child. His power far surpasses our own abilities."

The huge Blob bent down to look me in the eye, "No way, I bet he just used a hairpin of something! If he so strong, let's see if he can move me!"

"You say that to everyone who is strong! The boy wouldn't wanna exhaust his powers trying to move your fat ass!" A big guy with a metal costume said. I thought I recalled his name to be Avalanche, the earthquake guy. Just then the long expected alarms went off and we heard loud heavy footsteps coming from both directions.

"Hey, Blob, you ever been used as a cannonball before?" I asked.

"Duhh...where's the cannon?" he grumbled, looking around.

"Good enough, I'm gonna throw you at those bots. You're heavy enough to knock a few over, don't worry I can lift you," I said with a small smirk.

"Duhh..okay."

I heaved him up and gave him the toss straight into a Sentinel when it entered the huge room. He was really heavy, no doubt about that. But it wasn't anything I hadn't lifted before, very similar to the starting weight that I was trained with. The Blob bowled over the first robot, causing a domino effect to at least eight more behind the first. At this point all of the mutants headed the other direction from most of the Sentinels. A few robots got in their way, but with twenty mutants on them, they wouldn't last long.

"Come on Verto, this is the way out!" Jubilee screamed. I pushed the other way however, making way for the Blob to get out.

"I'm going to destroy this base, get everyone out! The robot population needs weeding!" I shouted back.

Magneto came up beside me, "I will assist, and we must destroy the master Sentinel, Master Mold. That will put an end to them, or at least slow them for a long time to come." We moved quickly down the halls, and I took the lead, destroying any huge robot that found courage in its programming.

Magneto tailed, mostly observing me in action. "Go right," he ordered.

"How do you know what way it is?" I asked.

"Because it used to be my base until these blasted machines attacked it, they took it for their own. A few months ago I attempted to take it back only to discover Master Mold already in place and creating Sentinels," he explained. At the end of the next hallway, we entered a large room, a large statue sat in the middle. That's when I realized it was not a statue, it was a gigantic robot. Master Mold sat in the huge chair and beeped at us. Even the regular Sentinels looked tiny compared to him.

"Mutants, surrender or be destroyed."

"How about I destroy you and this entire facility instead, bucket head," I said with complete confidence, maybe too much.

"Highly unlikely for a mutant adult, impossible for a human child," It beeped again. That's when I shot a quick blast at the roof and revealed daylight.

"Well time to find out isn't it? Come on, I'll destroy it from outside," I declared, rising into the air and flying out the new hole in the roof. Magneto was a split second behind me, and I dropped back so I could blast the whole base with one big beam. That's when Master Mold burst out of the building and flew after us. The master robot was even bigger than I thought, but very slow. I dropped back some more before going through my arm motions.

"Galic Gun... FIRE!" I shouted, releasing the huge red beam at the bot. It struck and pushed a little bit, then exploded. I half expected to see just the legs left afterwards, but it was my turn to be surprised, as the entire upper half was still intact.

"Minimal damage, minor repairs required! Pitiful Mutant, my body structure is made from adamantium, the strongest known metal! Your energy beams cannot penetrate it."

Magneto looked down, "He's right son, we have to find a different way to beat him. That robot has a strange energy field that repels magnetism so I cannot assist either."

"Oh I still have a trump card, that beam damaged him enough, its time to up the power a little!" I said, spreading my legs apart. I shouted a bit as I transformed into my golden form of Super Saiyan. Magneto's eyes shot open, and from what I heard from the distance, everyone else had a similar reaction.

"Let's try this again rust bucket! And everyone else might want to get clear!" I shouted, rushing at the bot full speed with both fists in front and ducking my head a bit. I got the result I wanted, punching a hole in the chest plate and through the middle of the huge machine. I stopped midway and pulled my ki inward. Then I released it from my entire body in one big blast from within. It wiped out whatever was still in the middle and didn't stop there, extending to its waist and legs as well as its neck and head. The robot exploded from the inside out as I released some of my ki, completely wiping it out. Next, I turned to the facility that housed it and the other Sentinels. With one more Galic gun blast, I blew the whole thing up, wiping out whatever was left inside.

**Power levels**

**Goten: 13,000,000**

**Juggernaught: 60,000**

**Apocalypse: 27,000,000 (not powered up)**

**Captured Mutants: 1,000-30,000 (varies)**

**Verto: 17,000,000, Super Saiyan: 70,000,000**

**Sentinels: 25,000 each**

**Master Mold: 25,000,000**

**A/n: For those wondering, this mini-crossover arc is based on the X-men animated series that aired during the 1990's in the states. I wasn't huge into comic books then, and really never was. Also, when I originally wrote and posted this, I had the master Sentinel in as "Mastermind", not Master Mold like it was supposed to be. That is my bad for not doing enough research, even if the majority of you didn't care. The same thing happened with some of the cronies you'll see coming up. I have fixed that issue though.**


	14. Mind Control

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 13: Mind Control**

After destroying the Sentinel base and Master Mold, I took a slight breather while remaining in the air and in Super Saiyan form, taking one last look just in case. A large part of the giant robot's head was lying in a make shift parking lot, but didn't show any signs of functioning. I backtracked back to the remaining mutants on nearby hill. Everyone was giving me the "holy shit how did you do that" look.

"If your wondering, I put forth plenty of energy to punch through despite my blast not working. Like most robots, the inside was completely vulnerable, that metal was tough though. Also, that little trick was quite stressing on my body as I was advised not to use it much by my instructors. Had I gone all out with it, the blast wouldn't have been pretty, and all of you plus me would be checking in with an afterlife judge," I explained, still catching my breath a little. I still wasn't used to that kind of strain. Go figure though, who really wants to explode from inside unless they really want to win a fight and take someone with them.

"Verto is it? Your hair is blond and your eyes are green, not to mention the glowing gold aura around you. What does that represent? I've never seen that before with any mutant or alien I've encountered," Magneto asked.

"Oh that, some of my people can reach extremely high levels of power, high for them I mean. This is one of those forms known as a Super Saiyan. Basically, if you were fighting me and holding your own, and then I did this; you should be running for the nearest exit. There are higher levels of power that I cannot reach, ahem...yet," I said the last part with a sly smirk that would've made Vegeta proud. I powered back down to normal, letting the golden aura turn blue, then vanish.

"Listen bub, we don't have time to chit chat about the kid's moves. We have to high-tail it over to Tibet and take out Apocalypse!" Wolverine broke in.

"I understand the problem at hand Wolverine. I am inquiring about the boy's abilities, not that you could spot any talent when you see it," Magneto said calmly, though I noticed he was wisely a little distant from Logan.

"Keep talking old man! I hope your mouth is still moving after I tear your head off!" Logan growled and looked like he could pounce at any second.

"Stay back Wolverine, I wouldn't want to have to send you to Master Mold's maker next," Magneto continued to taunt, "Now then, I am curious, are all your friends like you? As powerful as you? More? Less?" My eyes narrowed, thanks to Piccolo I could now detect certain emotions and discrepancies in a person's voice. I had been able to sense suspicious and malicious intent to an extent before, it was just to a much greater degree now. Magneto was currently emitting a signal that could put him on the list of every government branch.

Magneto must've noticed my reaction as well, but I spoke first anyway, "Depends on what you're getting at."

He smiled slightly, "It's good to be careful boy, and I am merely trying to learn a little bit about your race." I paused before answering, that sly smile was definitely hiding something, however I knew he wouldn't try anything himself, my power display proved that.

"Not all of my friends are like this, Gohan, the oldest, is strongest. Me and my brother Trunks are about even but are far below Gohan. Goten, Gohan's brother, is just below us. The only two above Gohan are his father and my, father," I explained, carefully adding and subtracting certain details so not to draw too much attention.

"How many battles have you been in son? You seem to know a lot about the battle field?" he pressed on.

"Not many, my sparring matches with my trainers were heavier and nastier then any battle I've been in, including this one," I said. Magneto was really pushing for information for another purpose, no one else would've cared if they didn't want something. I began to scowl a bit, and my tail twitched angrily and unraveling itself.

Magneto saw this as a chance for another question, "What does the tail represent, surely it must do something?" he asked.

I smirked slightly, swishing my tail so it pointed in his direction with the tip, "Depends on what you mean, let's just say when there's a full moon, a Saiyan with a tail will change. If the enemy knows what's good for them, they will be gone before the transformation ends. All I know about them is that a Saiyan's ability is increased by a factor of ten times that of the original. Similar to the Super Saiyan change, but let's just say, a little more disastrous. That little stunt I just pulled would fail in comparison if I were to change as I may not be able to control myself," I added the last part to my fountain of information just to throw him a little. Looking around behind me, most of the other mutants were gone.

Magneto's demeanor changed slightly as he absorbed the information, "In the few battles you've been in, have you ever killed anyone?"

That question threw me instead, "No, I haven't killed anything except for some monsters and those robots that I know of. Really I don't want to go that far in a battle unless the need arises. However don't get me wrong, if I have to kill someone evil, I will. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do," I said, cutting the conversation off.

"Seeing as your jet is destroyed, would you like a ride there? My magnetic field can levitate as you see," he said, agreeing for the time being. That's when my ki senses went off like crazy, either Goten got really mad, or Gohan did and they were fighting each other. _What the hell? Why would they be fighting each other? Looks like I'm needed pretty badly._

"You can carry Wolverine and Jubilee. Judging by that energy spike I just sensed, I need to get there in a hurry. I can find them on my own," I said, raising my power a bit.

"Will do. Good luck boy, you'll need it." Magneto said, enveloping Wolverine and Jubilee into his magnetic bubble and lifting off. Without wasting time, I quickly powered back up to Super Saiyan and blasted off westward, hoping that if I was needed I could get there in time.

**Interlude 13.1 –Brotherly Conflict-**

Gohan paced impatiently. He wasn't picking up Verto or Goten's power level. Both were either suppressed or sleeping, therefore the ki level was too low to detect. It wasn't Verto he was worried about though, being trained by Vegeta and Piccolo, he knew the boy could handle whatever those robots threw at him. He scowled angrily, powering up inadvertently, but not too much. Trunks took notice, but wisely kept his mouth shut. He had seen Gohan get mad at Vegeta in a sparring match, also the only time he ever saw his father lose a sparring match, ever.

"Oh don't worry suga, I'm sure your little brother is okay. Apocalypse took him for a reason, not to kill him," Rogue tried to reassure him.

It didn't do much, "No you don't understand, all my life my friends or father have bailed me out when I was in danger. But when they needed help, I either wasn't there, or was too afraid to help. It finally came back to bite me when I had to watch as my father had to sacrifice himself for everyone else. I vowed I would never let that happen to Goten or anyone else, and I will not let that happen now. If Apocalypse has done him any harm, he will pay dearly for it. How long till we get there?" he said, a little more stirred up now.

"About five more hours, we're passing over Hawaii right now. It's about the halfway point. Why don't you sit back and take a nap Gohan, you need to calm down," Storm said. Gohan knew they were right, wouldn't do him any good to start venting his anger on them, he was better than that. Plopping down in a chair next to Rogue, he began to mentally and physically calm himself using a meditation trick Piccolo showed him. Involved in his thoughts, he failed to notice a certain gloved hand above his leg, until it made contact. His eyes shot open and downwards.

"So suga, had many girlfriends?" Rogue said, applying some of her natural charm. The now blushing Gohan shook his head no while Trunks gagged at the sight. Storm rolled her eyes while Jean just sighed and smiled before turning back to flight assistance with Cyclops.

* * *

Apocalypse observed his view screen and began to laugh loudly at the audio that came over.

"Oh Magneto you fool, I can always count on your curiosity! Now I wonder if I can turn the boy to my side. If I can, my entry to the time gate will be much easier, those Saiyans will be fighting with each other long enough for me to gain entry. Then I will rule all of time and space," he cackled loudly.

"I can implant one of my mind control larvae into his head. Surely a child will not be able to resist it," a voice came.

"You can if you want Sinister, the boy will probably be able to resist your little creatures. These Saiyans have a strong will, I am sure of that just by watching that other one take out those foolish robots. I have never seen a child fight like that before. If all else fails, I'll just take his energy, it would come in handy with the time gate. I would be a fool to pass up the opportunity on a powerful slave though. After all, I don't always want to get my hands dirty when your cronies fail, proceed at once!" Apocalypse said, mocking his subordinate.

Sinister frowned slightly, but wisely stepped backward, "Yes of course my lord. What is your bidding regarding the X-men approaching?"

"Let them come a little closer, if the need arises. I will go and destroy them before they even get here. But they're too weak to detour us, are the mutant power restrictors online?" Apocalypse asked.

"Yes my lord, anyone other than yourself not wearing the blocking device will not be able to use their powers whatsoever. They will be easily crushed," Sinister said with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Excellent, now only the boy needs tending to. While his powers are down, try your little larvae trick, and use persuasion to lure him to our side. Maybe give him candy or something to help turn him over, do what you need to get the job done. Once he is under control, send him out to confront his friends!" Apocalypse ordered.

"Yes my lord," Sinister bowed and left the room. As he was leaving, nasty thoughts began flowing through his head about universal domination and destruction.

* * *

Down in Apocalypse's dungeon, Goten woke up slowly, a bad headache pulsed where he had been struck.

"Owww, my head hurts!" he called out to whoever listened as he opened his eyes. His arms and legs were bound to the wall by strong green vines. "What is this place? Looks a little scary," he said, observing a darker environment then he was used to.

"This is Apocalypse's base in Tibet," a voice said. Goten turned his head to the source of the voice. Ten feet down from him he saw a bald man in a green suit tied up the same way that he was.

"Greetings young man, I am Professor Charles Xavier, you and I are the unfortunate ones today. Pity that Apocalypse has put up restrictors around this base, for it blocks out mutant abilities, things are looking rather bad right now. I'm sorry that you, Goten, and your group has to get drawn into this. Apocalypse is truly a being without regard to life, just his own selfish ambition. If only we could break free and shut off those restrictors, but I haven't the use of my legs even if we could break these vines," Xavier concluded, looking downward. Generally missing all of the other information, Goten got hyped up when he saw his face.

"You're that bald guy on the really neat TV. Yay, I found you first! But this stuff is really yucky, can we get rid of it now?" Goten asked, clueless.

Xavier just sighed at the boy's naive behavior, "Well if those restrictor devices were not active, we might be able to escape. But the only way to shut them off ourselves is to escape. That option is out unless a miracle occurs and someone breaks us out, we will have to wait for the X-men," Xavier explained.

"But I'm getting hungry, can I just go eat and come back later? I promise I won't let anyone see me, besides I need to find my brother!" Goten whined.

Xavier just shrugged, "Son, if you can get us both out of here, you can eat all you want. My treat."

"Really! Okay!" Goten said happily, promptly breaking the vines with ease and jumping down.

Xavier's jaw dropped, "How?"

"I dunno, I just did it," Goten said, showing off the traditional Son grin.

"The restrictors must not work on aliens, just mutants!" Xavier said, putting the facts together. Goten walked over and pulled off Xavier's vines, but didn't realize the professor was crippled. Thus he didn't catch him when he dropped like a rock.

Ignoring the obvious, Goten started jumping up and down, "Where's the food, where's the food!"

"Son, we have to escape first, and I do not have the use of my legs. It would be better for you to escape without me and go to your family and friends. I'd just slow you down Goten," Xavier said, lowering his head a bit.

Goten turned his head slightly, "Hey how did you know my name?"

"Ah that, my mutant power can read and if need be, control people's thoughts. I used it to get information when your group arrived, but I can't use it now because of those mutant power restrictors," Xavier said.

"So who is that big guy that hit me in the head? I think he's a bad person!" Goten said, agitated at the very idea.

"That would be Apocalypse, a powerful being. He though is not a mutant, and I'm not sure exactly what he is. I do know that he is bent on conquering time, we must stop him but we'll need help. He can't open the time gate without the correct spell and needs a massive amount of pure energy to do it with...that explains why he brought you here! He plans to somehow use your massive amounts of energy to open the time gate, now it all fits. It would certainly take him too long to just take it from mutants and humans," Xavier declared.

"Well Xavier, at least your group had a smart leader. Now if you will excuse me, the boy is needed," a voice said.

"Sinister! I should have known you'd want in on conquering the universe, it is pointless though. If you were any sort of being with a conscience, you would try to stop Apocalypse from this. He will only kill you once he has what he wants," Xavier said out of anger.

"Conquer the universe? That's bad isn't it?" Goten asked.

"Hahaha, oh you sure can pick them Xavier! Only a smart man would pick a complete moron for his organization!" Sinister laughed.

Goten turned to growl a bit at the newcomer in the doorway, "Hey bad man! Leave him alone, he didn't do anything to you!"

Sinister laughed some more, "What if I don't kid, what are you gonna do about it?" Not a second later there was a large dent in Sinister's cheek where a small ki blast hit him and he fell backwards, he was back on his feet quickly though. "Okay kid, come with me now, my master said for you not to be harmed, don't make me kill you!" he threatened.

"No way big bully! You won't take me without a fight!" Goten called out.

"I won't need to. Ruckus, do the honors," Sinister said as a blond haired mutant stepped in. Ruckus then opened his mouth and screamed unbelievably loud with a sound wave directed straight at the professor and Goten. Goten grabbed his sensitive ears in pain, and soon passed out from the noise, as did Xavier. Sinister approached the downed Saiyan and pulled something from his hand, a small green worm. He put the worm in the boy's ear and backed away, letting it slither in. About a minute later Goten's eyes shot open and he screamed loudly, holding his head.

"Okay boy, its simple. Obey me and you live, don't obey me, and this happens," Sinister finished as Goten screamed in pain again. "Now who do you serve?"

Goten stopped screaming and looked down with a nasty smile on his face, "I serve you, Mister Sinister. What do you want me to do?"

"Go and kill the Xmen, they are on their way here in a large black jet. Destroy them!" Sinister ordered. The now thoughtless Goten obeyed, lifting off the ground, powering up a little, and literally plowing through the ceiling and flying due east.

"How could you do that to an innocent boy? You really have sunk to a new low Sinister. When will you learn that your hatred for life will only destroy you in the end?" Xavier said as he was being chained up in the mystical vines Sinister's other two cronies, Hairbag and George.

"Spare me the speech Xavier, now that boy has a purpose with all of his power. Enjoy your stay, I'm sure Master Apocalypse will want you dead eventually," Sinister yelled at him before turning and leaving, his cronies right behind him.

* * *

Both Gohan and Trunks' heads shot up as they sensed a massive ki heading in their direction.

"What is it?" Storm asked.

"Someone is coming, someone powerful. The energy signature is similar to my little brother's, but it's lower than normal. Darker as well," Gohan explained, "How long is it now till we arrive?"

"About two hours Gohan, why?" Jean called from up front.

"You may need to let me out on the way. Whoever is out there is coming straight at us, and the power level is very high for any human or mutant," Gohan said, scratching his chin.

"I'll look ahead to see who it is…it is Goten. His mind is confused, half of it is full of evil intentions. The other half is confused and innocent, ...there's something in there, some sort of control device or organ," Jean said, using her telepathic powers.

"Sounds like Sinister's mind control worms, like he did to a former comrade Morph. He didn't have total control, but Morph sure as hell wasn't stable even after we freed him. If Sinister has infected Goten with those worms, he will not hesitate to attack you, and it's really hard to get those things out once they're in. If you can get through to him and maybe get that worm out, he should be okay. He will be fine if we destroy Sinister," Cyclops stated.

"Well I can tell you what will happen is if a Saiyan is crazy like your saying. Does mindless killing machine ring any bells?" Gohan asked.

The blank, but shocked stares began, "What do we do?" Jean asked.

"Trunks, you go with the X-men to stop Sinister and Apocalypse. I'll worry about Goten, drop me off here," Gohan said, as Jean slowed the blackbird down.

"Good luck Gohan, we'll be there waiting on you there suga," Rogue said, blowing him a kiss. Gohan flew out of the hangar just as it open to see a mixed up Goten floating there. The blackbird sped up again and vanished into the distance.

"The bad man said to kill the X-men, but I don't want to! Big brother, help! He's making my head hurt, make him stop!" Goten shouted angrily.

"Don't worry Goten, I'm going to help, the X-men are going to stop him so he can't tell you to kill people. It's your decision to hurt things, not his! Don't let him control your actions," Gohan pleaded.

"He's making my head hurt, he says he won't stop until I kill them. Now he wants me to attack you, I have to do it! Make him stop now!"

Gohan looked dazed, "Come on Goten, fight through it! You're better than this!"

"I can't hold it back anymore!" Goten said as he flew at Gohan with an outstretched fist.

* * *

I continued flying as fast as I could towards the high power levels I felt. The first was definitely Gohan, the other felt like Goten, but a dark icy feeling came with it. I closed in quickly, searching for any high power levels further past the first two, but didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. At first I had only felt the first one, but it seemed to run into the other one and were fighting ever since. I hadn't felt Gohan's full power yet, but this was still below his Super Saiyan abilities so it wasn't pressing. Still I wanted to get there quickly if I needed to help.

After another twenty minutes of constant ocean water, I made landfall and flew over what I knew to be parts of Asia. I didn't know the area well aside from a world map, but some of the shoreline was a good hint. I started hearing sonic booms, so I knew I was close to the battle. Powering down to normal, I scanned the area for Gohan. I finally spotted him in the distance, and he was fighting Goten! _What the hell_? In truth it was really Goten fighting Gohan, Gohan was just fending him off, not advancing on him at all. I got closer and saw the enraged look on Goten's face as he continued attacking.

"Gohan! Goten! Why are you fighting?" I shouted as I flew up to them. They both stopped momentarily, before Goten fired a small blast at me. I dodged and watched it fly down to the earth and explode on impact.

"Big brother won't help me, so I have to kill him!" Goten yelled at me.

"Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"The X-men said that someone named Sinister implanted something in his mind and is controlling it. That's why he is acting this way," Gohan said loudly as Goten suddenly attacked again. As I watched the brothers duke it out, I noticed that Goten hadn't powered up much. Not only was he not a super saiyan, but maybe half of his full power in normal form.

"Why aren't you using more power Goten? Think you can beat your big brother that easily?" I called at him. Gohan looked at me with a confused look. Goten stopped and glared at me, then started raising his power level up near full in normal. When he got there, he grabbed his head as if I had hit him there with a rock.

"OWWWWW! The bad man is hurting me, stop it bad man! I can't beat him if you make me hold back!" Goten shouted at the air, as if there was a shadow haunting him and forcing him into having a split personality. He stopped powering up, but he also stopped fighting Gohan and kept shouting at the air.

"_Hey Gohan, I bet they can't control him when he's powered up. Have him go Super Saiyan, I think that could break the control completely!" _I thought to Gohan.

"Goten, tell him you have no chance of beating me unless you can use your full power as a Super Saiyan," Gohan suggested.

Goten seemed to think that one over, "He stopped hurting me, said to do it," Goten said, raising his power. He cranked it up as the golden aura surrounded him and he turned Super Saiyan. Then I felt a slight spike in his power, other than the obvious, and the icy cold feeling I was getting snapped and warmed back to normal. I spotted something green crawl out of Goten's ear and drop to the ground as the Saiyan powered up. Goten cried out in slight pain before it was suddenly gone, though there was a little blood coming from his ear.

"The bad man is gone!" Goten danced happily through the air, tackling Gohan in a big brotherly hug. I sighed slightly, knowing that it could have been much worse.

"Goten, are you ok?" Gohan asked, trying to shake him off.

"Yep!" he said happily as if nothing had happened.

"What happened to you?" Gohan asked again.

"I woke up next to the bald guy, Xcabater I think! Then one of the bad men screamed at me, it was so loud big brother! Then something made me feel bad, and then I came here to hurt people. I don't ever wanna do that again, promise me I don't have to Gohan! PLEASE!" Goten whined.

Gohan just smiled slightly, "Don't worry Goten, you don't have to hurt anybody except the bad guy. It's okay to hurt the bad guy, otherwise us good guys can't win right?"

"Right! YAY!" Goten celebrated like it was his birthday.

I floated closer, "Well we better get going over there if we're going to stop the real bad guy right?" I said.

"Yeah let's go, we can follow Trunks' power signal. He's still close enough to sense," Gohan said.

"Good, because I don't think I'd be a good map reference around here," I chuckled.

"This world is like yours?" Gohan asked. I paused mid laugh, realizing what I had just said.

"Similar enough, the land masses and oceans seem about right. Enough wasted time though, we gotta roll!" I explained briefly, and sighing heavily once Gohan turned around. With that said Gohan and Goten powered up slightly to white auras, mine blue, and then we took off towards Trunks and the X-men.

**Power levels**

**Sinister: 50,000**

**Gohan: 45,000,000**

**Mind Controlled Goten: 7,000,000, Super Saiyan: 65,000,000**


	15. Disrupted Plans

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 14: Disrupted Plans**

Trunks paced impatiently aboard the Blackbird. _Man, why can't this thing move any faster, I wanna beat somebody up!_ Trunks thought as he stared out the front window.

Jean glanced at him briefly, "You know, its not nice to want to beat someone up. It's better not to use your powers until you absolutely have to," she spoke softly.

Trunks glared at her, "Sorry, but it's just so boring. And I'm a Saiyan, not a mutant, its in my blood to fight. Stay out of my head."

Jean just sighed, "We're almost there Scott, should we go ahead and land now?"

"Yes, let's not risk getting shot down and approach slowly," Cyclops suggested. Jean piloted the jet towards the nearest clearing in the snowy mountain region and landed the jet slowly on the cold but not quite frozen ground of Tibet. Opening the door, Trunks came out first, ready to pound the nearest victim, followed by the X-men. Trunks suddenly stopped and began looking around quickly in all directions.

"What's wrong suga?" Rogue asked, glancing around and seeing nothing.

"Something isn't right here, but I can't pinpoint it. Hey psychic lady, can you?" Trunks shouted rudely. Cyclops wanted to say something to that, but Jean put her hand up to hold his words.

"Scott, I can't ...sense anything. My powers are not working!" Jean screamed.

Storm gasped, "Neither are mine, our mutant powers have left us again!"

Cyclops took his visor off and opened his red eyes to no avail, "It must be one of Sinister's mutant power restrictors again, remember Antarctica? We could not use our powers until that thing was destroyed or we escaped, even Wolverine's healing power was gone! Blast it, we must leave now, we won't be able to take down Apocalypse without our powers!" he said angrily.

Trunks looked confused, "I've still got my powers though, see?" he said, holding a hand straight to the air and firing a small blast towards the upper atmosphere.

"It only works on Mutants. We will be just like normal humans until we leave or the device is destroyed!" Storm explained.

"Then I'll go destroy the device, no problem!" Trunks declared, cracking his knuckles.

"Problem is we do not know precisely where Apocalypse is. I landed the Blackbird to around where Professor X's last transmission was, but I don't see his jet. It's very possible that he was captured, and if that's the case I cannot communicate with him because his mutant powers will be gone as well. We need another plan," Jean said, crossing her arms in front of her and thinking it over.

Trunks however started jumping up in down, "Here comes Gohan, Verto and Goten!" he said pointing at the sky. Sure enough, three figures belonging to the other Saiyans dropped out of the sky and landed directly in front of Trunks.

* * *

"Good we made it!" I said as me and Goten landed behind Gohan's lead. "So where's the party guys?" I asked cheerfully.

"Where's Wolverine and Jubilee?" Storm asked immediately.

"They're coming, their ride was slower than mine," I said with a bright smile. Storm didn't look like she bought that very well, but said nothing to that.

"Our mutant powers have left us, some restricting device Apocalypse must have set up around here, we've run into it before. Last time it was a big generator inside Sinister's base in Antarctica and it had to be destroyed before our powers came back. Without our mutant powers we wont be able to locate Professor X or do very much against Apocalypse," Cyclops brought us up to speed.

"No problem, you've got four Saiyans ready to take down that freak," Trunks said, holding a finger straight up in the air. I glanced around, feeling a slight ki variance in the air.

"Hey guys, something isn't right. Feels weird out here," I said, lowering my voice a little.

"Quite right boy!" A voice shouted from a nearby tree batch. Sinister stepped out from the trees, his goons right behind him.

"Sinister! What have you done with the professor?" Cyclops yelled at them.

"Mr. Summers, you need not worry. You shall join him shortly, surrender now before things get...unseasonable around here," Sinister threatened with a sly smile.

Gohan stepped forward, "Goten is that the guy who hurt you?"

"Yes big brother, he was really mean!" Goten said with an angry tone.

"Good, he's mine!" Gohan shouted, preparing a small blast in his hand. He fired it quickly straight at the purple colored Sinister. Sinister tried to catch it in his hand and send it back. The only problem was he underestimated Gohan's miniscule blast and instead his whole arm was vaporized. Pink blood spewed from the shoulder and he clutched it in agony.

"Damn you! That was stupid, now you will all die!" Sinister shouted. To my surprise, his arm regenerated and fired a medium size, but mediocre powered blast at Gohan. Gohan caught it and showed him how to correctly send it back, but he sent it back in a bigger package. After the smoke cleared, Sinister's head was rolling around behind his cronies. Soon the head began to sprout a neck as he regenerated again.

"Ruckus, will you please take care of them now?" he said while getting his bearings, and body back. Ruckus, I assumed stepped forward, and opened his mouth really wide, and screamed. His energy didn't increase one bit. Normally this might've been pretty pathetic for a powerup, but due to his mutant abilities the sound was deafening to my Saiyan ears. I grabbed them to try to shut out the noise, to no avail, and the pressure on my ears was too great. I wasn't the only one having trouble, I looked around to see Gohan and the boys holding their ears as well, the X-men were already out. The extreme noise and pain continued, whoever could last the longest would win this one. After about thirty seconds, Ruckus was starting to lessen the noise level, but the strain didn't change much. I tried to gather some ki and hold it around my head to shield my ears. No effect, the pain continued to the tune of black spots forming in front of my eyes. Soon I could not hold out any longer and dropped down on my back, welcoming the blackness of sleep.

* * *

I woke up, bound by large restraints in some sort of tiny chamber, like a pod of some kind. It was clear for the most part, I could see around me easily. I noticed two pods on my left, containing the boys, and one on my right, containing Gohan. They were beginning to stir as well.

"Welcome, to the end of everything!" came a loud deep voice. I looked straight ahead of me to see Apocalypse himself standing before us. The guy was pretty big, though I wasn't sure it if was due to cybernetic enhancements or not. Behind him was a large door with a lot of pictures and symbols on it.

"I am Apocalypse, soon to be ruler of all the universe. You should be pleased as you will play a huge part in the opening of the Door of Time, for it is your pure energy I require to open it. I will absorb it from your pods and it will flow to my computer and output into the door when I recite the spell. Then I will take my rightful place in history!" he cackled.

"You will never succeed, we will fight you to the last!" Gohan shouted at him. I tried to pry myself from the metal bars holding my in place, but when I tried to move, my arms suddenly burned from touching them. As they got hot, I felt a little of my ki leave my body through them.

"YOOOOOWWWWWW!"

"Did I forget to mention, if you move to escape or anything, the machine will automatically begin to absorb your energy until you stop. So in other words, you will not escape," Apoc laughed again. He pressed a button on his wristband and the machines turned on again and burned us to absorb our energy, only this time it did not stop. We all screamed instinctively as I felt my ki leaving my body quicker this time. Then he pressed the button again and stopped the process, giving us a breather. I glanced over to what he was looking at, a computer panel that had four thick cords dragging on the floor, to where our pods were connected to them. Then I saw his power meter rise upwards with a red bar.

"Hmmm, eighteen percent from just that little shock. You Saiyans have a lot of energy, mind if I borrow the rest?" He hit the button again and I screamed immediately.

"Fifty percent complete, estimated three minutes to full power," A loud computer voice sounded after about a minute.

"Excellent!" Apocalypse said, rubbing his hands and mocking us while we lay helpless in the pods, losing our energy in the process. The amazing thing was that he had not taken a whole lot from us yet, maybe about ten percent from myself is all I could tell. I assumed about the same from the rest, as I was too busy screaming in pain to calculate anyone else's. The sixty percent announcement went off, and I was quickly searching for a possible solution. I tried to break the bars even while my arms seemed to be on fire, that only increased the pain, and increased the rate of absorption.

"Sixty Five...incredible that these creatures have this much energy. I had better make sure to shut off the machine once I hit full power," Apocalypse snorted. Fortunately my Saiyan ears picked up on that one, and Gohan realized it as well as he sent me a telepathic message.

"_Hey, let's turn it up to Super Saiyan! It may increase the energy lost, but that will overload his machine. Hopefully the boys will have enough energy left to fight him if we don't!" _

"_Got it Gohan, let's do it!_" I thought back to him. Simultaneously, we cranked up our power levels and got an assload of pain to counteract it. As much as I wanted to stop and rest, I pushed up my level and I opened my eyes again to see the results. The machine had already shot up to eighty-five percent while Apocalypse was looking at us, trying to figure out what we were doing. After a little more effort, I hit the barrier and we streaked into Super Saiyan mode. The machine went bonkers and hit one hundred percent in an instant. It also blew up a few seconds later. After the smoke cleared, I could see Apocalypse looking over the remains of what looked like the time gateway. It had been shattered beyond repair from the overloaded machine next to it.

"ARRGHHHHH! DAMN YOU SAIYANS, YOU"VE RUINED EVERYTHING!" he roared in anger. I stood up with Gohan from our now broken pods, and both of us were panting heavily.

"_Hey? You got any power left_?" came Gohan's thought voice.

"_Not really, If I drop from Super Saiyan I might pass out, and he took so much that I might in a minute or two anyway. The boys feel like they didn't give up quite as much. Unless you can reach your second level, they might have to fight this one out_," I replied.

That seemed to give Gohan heartache, "_I haven't reached the second level for over a year, barely made it when I really tried. I better restart my training when we get home. Try and wake the boys, I'll hold this creep off!_" Gohan then phased out and rushed at Apocalypse head on. I ran over to the boys' pods and found that they had also broken when we went Super. Trunks stirred slightly, then looked up at me.

"Hey bro, what's going on?" I could barely answer, the machine took a dangerous amount of ki away from me and I was having trouble maintaining Super Saiyan now. I powered down so not to pass out and dropped to the floor, tired. I heard a loud bang behind me, Gohan had just planted Apocalypse right on his ass with a huge punch to his face. Apoc's ki was difficult to sense so I really had no clue how deep it went. Gohan was as tired as I was though, he needed rest badly, even a few minutes would help.

"Trunks, Goten, go fight Apocalypse. Gohan and I are tired from overloading that machine and we need the rest, go kick his butt!" I ordered. Instantly Trunks and Goten both turned Super Saiyan and rushed Apoc from behind, catching him completely off guard. Gohan came back over to me and took a seat as well, powering down to normal. We observed the boys as they took on the freak of nature.

* * *

Trunks plowed forward and hit a double arm smash to Apoc's head, Goten gave him a right hook an instant later. Apoc's ki didn't seem to fluctuate though, while it was slightly lower than the boys', it did not decrease when they hit him over and over again. Punch, kick, kick, punch, punch, the flurry of blows from the boys connected every time and did almost nothing. It was knocking him around, but it wasn't decreasing his power at all, like he was hiding its true depths. Trunks and Goten began to falter as they had lost a lot of ki as well, the rest spent on fighting Apoc. The boys backed up and fired blasts at the same time. Both connected, leaving Apoc's armor bruised and smoking slightly, Apoc's ki stirred a little as well.

"Hey Gohan, you see that? The ki blasts actually did something, the blows didn't do anything! He must be vulnerable to ki blasts!" I said, a little excited.

Gohan sighed, "Good plan, but we're all a little beat up to handle that task, the boys are almost done. You're not doing any better than them, and if I try to push the second level, I may burn all my ki up before I reach it. I don't think it will work." I pondered that one for a minute or two. All of a sudden there was a huge crash in the room as something came through the ceiling. It was something big and made of metal, and a booming voice.

"RENEGADE MUTANTS LOCATED, INJURIES PRESENT! NEW CONTACTS DETECTED, UNKNOWN MUTANTS, INITIATE CAPTURE OF UNKNOWN MUTANTS!"

"I don't believe it, its the Sentinels! They must have followed me when I destroyed their base," I said.

"Argh! That is enough of this ridiculous interference!" Apocalypse shouted. Then his ki began to rise sharply, then impossibly higher, leaving me wondering how we missed that about him. The boys backed away to observe. Then he started to grow bigger, quickly rising out of the ceiling. Soon his feet were as big as the Sentinels feet were. After a few foot movements, the rest of the roof came down on us.

Shifting around under the rubble, me and the others emerged slowly. Above us there was a huge aerial battle taking place. Apoc was taking on all of the Sentinels that had arrived, and there were plenty, probably somewhere around fifty. Apoc's left arm began to change into some sort of huge claw like blade, and it was beheading Sentinel's right and left. Trunks and Goten were about a hundred feet away by now, they had to move farther away to avoid the huge feet at the time.

"Hey Gohan, what if I were to donate some energy to you while you try and hit your maximum? Would that work?" I suggested.

Gohan looked unsure of himself, "It might, but you may not have enough left to give now," he said in a worried voice.

"Don't worry about me, just get that big freak. I'll be ok!" I said, stepping back and raising my hands toward him.

"Just be careful," he said, spreading his legs in a powerup type stance, "Go when you're ready!" I pushed my ki out in a controlled state and allowed it to enter his body slowly. He shot back up to Super Saiyan and absorbed it well, continuing to build towards his higher level. I poured my ki into him to insure the process. He began to slow his powerup, but stopped quickly, "It's not enough Verto, I can't make it. Save your energy, it won't do well to waste it," he said, topping off.

"Oh come on Gohan, I've still got a lot to give, now get ready for some more!" I shouted, turning Super Saiyan and pouring more in.

"Verto Stop! If you give me anymore you're going to pass out, or worse. It might be enough to blast that freak right now though if I get a good shot at him. Now stop before you hurt yourself!" Gohan ordered, a little sharper now to get his point across. I sighed and stopped releasing my energy, he was right about it anyway.

"Good boy, now stand back!" he shouted, getting into position. "Kaaa...meeeeee," As he powered up the blast, Apoc was finishing off the remaining Sentinels. "Haaaa...meeee," Apoc destroyed the last one only to turn around and see Gohan and the powerful blue beam developing behind him. He decreased his size back to normal and flew down straight at Gohan, in the perfect line of fire.

"Don't hold anything back Gohan, he's not going to give us another chance like this!" I heard Cyclops say behind me, he was holding the professor since he could not walk himself, the rest of the X-men were behind him.

"Right, I won't! HAAAAAAAA!" he screamed, letting the killer beam fly.

The blue wave of destruction smashed Apoc directly as he flew towards it. At first he struggled a bit to the powerful wave from the Super Saiyan. To my astonishment, he began pushing back against the wave, and gaining ground slowly.

"What? No way!" I shouted. I powered up with what little I had left, back to Super Saiyan, and firing a Galic Gun along side Gohan's beam to help out. Goten and Trunks flew over and did the same, creating one hell of a power display. With four Super Saiyans on him, Apoc faltered a little, and started to get pushed backward, but not badly, it evened out into a stalemate.

"Gohan, I can't hold this up much more!" I shouted. A large red beam shot into the mass of them along side ours, it was from Cyclops. Then I saw Storm hitting him with lightning on the backside. The stalemate continued, with me and the others rapidly running out of energy. Finally I could not sustain it any longer and I dropped out of Super Saiyan and off my feet. Goten and Trunks dropped out next, suffering a similar fate. The X-men retreated, their efforts not doing a damn thing. That left it Gohan vs. Apocalypse again, and Apoc gained ground more quickly as the fiery Saiyan began to run low on power. Finally Gohan shut off the beam so he didn't burn out, knowing it was not doing any good against this powerful foe. Apocalypse landed about twenty feet away from Gohan, with a sly smile on his face.

"I see you have come to your senses and realized that you cannot defeat me, even with your tremendous power. Since you destroyed my time gate, I will take your lives one by one. Let's start with you," Apocalypse cackled.

"Hey leave my big brother alone!" Goten shouted, standing up.

"Ah, its you. A pity I couldn't keep you under my control, you would've made quite the subordinate. You don't know the life you have thrown away, you would have anything you would ever want if you stayed with me. Too bad that I will have to kill you first now, had you stayed down I might have forgotten about you, what a shame!" Apocalypse laughed again, changing directions and walking straight at Goten.

"You leave him alone!" Trunks said, coming up beside Goten, "If you mess with one of us you mess with all of us!" Had I been able to, I would've displayed my overdrawn courage right then as well, but my body didn't feel like moving at the time.

"No boys, get away, right now before he attacks!" Gohan pleaded, knowing he wasn't close enough to stop Apocalypse should he attack. Instead the boys dropped into their fighting stances.

"Stupid fools!" Apocalypse shouted as he charged them. His first blow came at Trunks, knocking him away, then Goten got a kick sending him straight up in the air. Apoc held out his hand a fired a ki blast, something I didn't think he could do, straight at Goten. To my shock, the blast connected and Goten went flying into the distance. I heard him scream out in pain and then heard nothing as I lost sight of him when he dropped. Soon I felt his ki drop out of sensible range, which meant he was either suppressing it, was knocked out, or Apoc had killed him. The battlefield became silent, so silent that I swore I heard a snap, right before Gohan screamed a battle cry that would frighten the grim reaper.

I skidded along the ground as the energy from Gohan pushed me away from him. When the wind finally stopped and the dust settled, I spotted Gohan standing still in the epicenter of a raging Saiyan earthquake. His hair was sticking all the way up and there was lightning streaking through his body, but not even affecting him, he had ascended back to the second level. I had only seen this a few times from Vegeta, and only when Piccolo was having a good sparing day shortly before Vegeta ruined it, but the intensity of Vegeta's Super Saiyan two transformation did not have shit on Gohan's. Vegeta was always the king of control no matter what form despite his appearance, Gohan had just plain lost it. Apocalypse didn't seem to react at all, like nothing had changed. Boy was he wrong, there was a rather large difference between his and Gohan's power now and Gohan looked deathly calm. He phased out of sight and I was unable to follow him. All of a sudden he appeared next to me, set Trunks down and vanished again. He was back an instant later, an unconscious Goten cradled in his arms, who he set down next to Trunks.

"Stay here, I'm finishing this freak off," he said coldly. He vanished again and instantly Apoc was clutching his gut. Gohan's single blow had cracked Apoc's suit of armor and had punched into the internal area and pulled out a bunch of wires from the suits systems.

Apocalypse doubled over in pain, "How, how is this possible?"

"For every great evil, there is a greater good, now die!" Gohan said, reappearing behind and knife handing the back of Apoc's head and taking it clean off. Then he blasted the remains into dust.

**Power levels**

**Mutants and Sinister remain the same**

**Verto, Goten and Trunks remain the same (drops as power drains)**

**Gohan 45,000,000, Super Saiyan: 160,000,000 (drops as power drains), SS2: 310,000,000**

**Apocalypse 50,000,000, Full power: 190,000,000**

**Sentinels: 25,000**


	16. Secrets Revealed

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 15: Secrets Revealed**

Gohan stood over the remains of the evil Apocalypse, an icy cold stare on his face as he looked upon the remains with disgust. He began walking towards us, powering down on the way and returning to the calm, good-natured Gohan that had vanished within the powerful Saiyan beast a moment ago.

"You okay Verto?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

I grinned slightly, "About time you did that. I'm okay, just a little food and rest is all I need. Piccolo and Vegeta have beaten me up worse." He held out his hand and pulled me to my feet.

"I know the feeling, hopefully we can rest a day or two now. You and the boys could use it, and I'm a little hungry myself," Gohan said. That comment brought Goten and Trunks back to life in a snap.

"FOOD, WHERE!" They hopped around Gohan excitedly. I just chuckled at the sight, too tired to even think about doing that. I suddenly sensed three power signals approaching, but too weak to really do much. Then I spotted Wolverine, Jubilee and Magneto floating down in Magneto's magnetic field bubble. As soon as they landed the bubble disappeared and Jubilee ran over to check on us.

"What happened here?" she gasped as she finally noticed all the rubble and debris surrounding us.

"Let's just say Apocalypse is no longer a problem. As for the building, it has seen better days," Gohan said, scratching the back of his head and grinning Son fashion.

"You guys look like you've been through hell and high water," Wolverine said, walking up as well.

"Well if we had some Senzu beans we could be back to normal quickly, but all we really need is a few days rest and some food. We'll recover just fine," Gohan suggested.

"Senzu beans?" Magneto asked from behind Jubilee.

"Magic beans that restore your health and strength, not to mention can keep you full for awhile," I explained for Gohan.

"Well we haven't got anything like that, however I know someone who can help. She is a mutant doctor I met about thirteen years ago. We will go back to the mansion, where I will contact her and request she come to us instead. She has the power to heal," Xavier suggested. Something told me that we were not done yet, apparently Gohan got that feeling as well.

"_Hmmm, the portal should've appeared by now, shouldn't it?_" I asked silently.

"_Yes it should have, maybe there is more than one in this world, he never said how many. Look at it this way, we can use the time to recover. Hopefully the next one won't be like that beast was,_" he replied. As soon as his soundless words ended, I felt as if we were being spied on in our thoughts. I turned right away to Xavier, who looked slightly surprised.

"Do you mind? It's a private conversation, and I personally don't like to be spied on," I said, a very slight threatening tone to get my point across. I should have known that would draw a response from Wolverine, but he only growled slightly and stood motionless.

"My apologies, I had no idea that you two possessed telepathic abilities. The other two have the potential but haven't learned it yet," he nodded towards Goten and Trunks.

"We had the same teacher, now where is this healer you were speaking of?" Gohan asked, getting back to the subject.

"Ah yes, I suggest you allow me to contact her and she will come on her own free will. She's not fond of strangers, even those in need. You can rest at the mansion meantime. Scott, if you would call the blackbird, we can journey back to Westchester now," Xavier said. I glanced at Gohan, he just shrugged and nodded. The black jet appeared a minute or so later and we piled in to head back to the X mansion. I don't know about Goten and Trunks, but I was beat and I slept most of the way back to the mansion. Gohan wasn't quite as exhausted as the rest of us for obvious reasons, but even he yawned. Several times the X-men asked if I was okay, as they did to everyone else. They finally got the hint that we were just tired from such a battle and just needed food and rest. When we arrived at the mansion, Xavier suggested we stay in the medical wing just in case, we were too tired to care, or at least I was. Jean pointed out a bed and I crashed right away.

* * *

I woke to the sound of my stomach growling angrily, quite loud. Then I heard a huge echo from it. It turned out to be Gohan, Goten and Trunks' stomachs all growling in sync with my own.

"Hey squirt! Nice to see you've joined me in the land of the living, the boys are still out, for now," Gohan greeted me.

"Squirt huh, didn't I say not to call me that? I'll remember that if you ever get turned into a kid," I said, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The door opened on the far side of the medical room, and Xavier entered in his wheelchair, along with Jean and someone I did not recognize, another female with red hair.

"This is Doctor Diana Smith, she has the healing ability I was touching on. Just lie still and she will do the rest," Xavier explained. I flipped onto my back and lay still while the Doctor put her hands above my chest. They began to glow, and I felt my body's strength return quickly. She finished and I jumped off the table, good as new, and amazingly I wasn't hungry anymore. Only I felt noticeably stronger now, probably from the delay in the healing time.

"Thanks, I didn't realize it would wipe out my appetite too!" I said happily.

She looked confused, "It shouldn't do that, unless you eat a lot."

I put on the Son type grin that I was quickly picking up, "You could say that we eat a lot." She moved over to Gohan and proceeded with him. I felt a spike in his ki, I figured it to be just the healing, and boy was I wrong. He also felt stronger, but that wasn't what I detected. When he got off the table and stood up, he fell forward. Everyone began to step toward him, only to stop and gaze at his backside. There, swishing in the air, was a Saiyan tail. Gohan recognized the familiar feeling in his back and grabbed it in amazement.

"Okay...that's different. It wasn't supposed to grow back anymore," he muttered loudly, "Um miss, exactly what do your healing powers do? Do they regenerate the entire bone structure as well, I mean other than just healing them?"

Dr. Smith was taken aback a little for that question, but didn't seem too upset, "Something like that young man, was I not supposed to?"

Gohan obviously didn't want to make her feel bad, "Well I haven't had my tail since I was about eight years old, and the boys had theirs removed. I kind of missed the little bugger though, thanks!" Gohan said a little lighter at the end. She shrugged it off and healed the boys next. To my surprise, their tails grew back too, which caused Gohan to do a double take. Soon they were arguing about which one looked better, until Trunks tugged on Goten's and produced a wonderful sounding yelp of pain. This caused the retaliation from Goten, which left Trunks holding his tail like it had sunburn. Then they're eyes turned dark and evil, and Gohan was quickly running for his life, holding his tail away from the twin terrors. The X-men stood there, dazed and confused at the hilarious sight of the powerful teen running from the boys like a rabbit from a lion.

"Tails are very sensitive, one squeeze and it hurts like hell. Not to mention that most Saiyans will be paralyzed from it, he could probably tell you about that. I don't have that problem though, guess I just got lucky with the right genetics and the right teacher. It's still sensitive, but it won't make me helpless like it will them right now," I explained, chuckling some more as the boys had just dived again at Gohan's rear, and also leaving out the all important facts of my true origin.

"How ironic, that such a powerful race would have such an obvious weakness," Xavier said, hand to his chin.

"Hey boys, its not nice to grab another ones tail. It hurts a lot as you found out, don't ever do it again!" Gohan scolded them.

"Awww Gohan, we're just trying to have a little fun," Trunks whined. The scolding lecture continued, Gohan went on a roll that would've rivaled Chichi. While they were stuck in that situation, I took the liberty of doing a wide range ki scan to see if we still had another enemy to beat. I began picking up several ki sources somewhere to the east and slightly south, around what should be New York City, though I wasn't sure. Similar power levels to the mutants, but different signatures, some even slightly mechanical, though those were barely detectable even if I was completely calm and focused. I found that out when I tried to pick 18's signal up and found there was hardly anything to detect, never mind the fact that it was hard enough with all the Z fighters in the same room. The levels I was picking up spiked slightly, but not long enough or strong enough to notice had I not been searching for them.

"I think we had better get going guys, I think I have a slight lead on the next place were supposed to go. There's some energy spikes south and east of here, not mutant signals either. Maybe we should check it out," I suggested after Gohan was through drilling the boys.

"If you're going to New York, we know someone there who is a hero like us, only he's not a mutant. He goes by the name Spiderman, just look hard enough and you can find him," Beast said. _Oh good, another one I know well._

"We'll keep an eye out," Gohan said.

"Spiderman? What does he do spin webs and scare old ladies?" Trunks asked, laughing at the name.

"Oh he's capable of being one of the best saviors this world has ever seen. As it sounds, he has spider attributes obviously, and he is quite a being of skill and strength, but that isn't his best quality. What he lacks in ability he makes up in intelligence; he is a remarkable man," Xavier said in his defense.

"So he's a nerd like Gohan?" Trunks asked right away.

"In that case, we will be sure to find him and see if he does indeed need our assistance," Gohan said, ignoring Trunks, "Thanks for putting up with us for a few days, we should get going now."

"It is our thanks that should be said, you four have saved this world and many others. I truly hope that someday we can repay the favor, but I don't think its possible. Thank you Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Verto, you will always have a friend in the X-men. Stop by this dimension again sometime," Xavier chuckled. We waved goodbye in our own way and took flight from the mansion to the general direction of New York City.

"Wow we must have slept all day too guys, its twilight now!" Gohan pointed out as we flew. I quickly looked for any sign of a moon, finding none.

* * *

After flying high for about ten minutes we descended upon what seemed to be New York, though a little different then what it was on my world. Had I actually been to New York before, I may have been able to notice many similar or different things, but I hadn't.

"I think we should stick near the building tops, I doubt these people see others that fly everyday," I suggested. Gohan nodded and descended to the nearest building in the middle of the city. On the roof was a landing of some kind, but more like an upper deck, then next to it another tower. The windows up and down the building were dark so we could not peer inside. We landed on the upper deck and glanced around, nothing really of notable interest.

"Nobody's home?" Goten asked.

"This Spiderman is probably going to take awhile to find anyway guys, I doubt he lives here, but we can't just check everywhere," Gohan said.

"I think all we should do is wait and watch for trouble, he'd probably show up then sometime. All we have to do is check for a higher ki level, so just sit tight I guess," I said, sitting on the ground Indian style and preparing for meditation. Just as I said that, a high ki level went flying by the wall of the building, and then came back and a white string or rope flew up and grabbed the building side. The wall crawler himself flipped onto the upper deck surface and crouched down like he was ready to pounce.

"That was fast!" I said aloud.

He front flipped and turned to look at us, "Who are you?" Spiderman asked.

Gohan stepped forward first, "I'm Gohan, your Spiderman I assume?" He nodded, "Good, Professor Xavier said to look for you, were wondering if..."

"Professor Xavier of the X-men sent you? For what reason? Are you Mutants?"

"Hang on I will get to that, let me explain us first," Gohan began. For someone who disappears quickly, Spiderman displayed a ton of patience listening to Gohan's heavily edited explanation. After finishing up with the X-men, Spiderman finally relaxed a bit, standing straight up.

"So you're here to see if I need assistance so you can go back to your world?" he asked.

"That's right, heck we don't even know if home is next on the list," Gohan shrugged.

"Well this is the Kingpin's hideout, I do not know what he has been up to, but he has a very dear friend of mine under his control so to speak. Her father was young during World War Two and witnessed the development of a super soldier formula in Germany, the same formula was developed here as well. Only two people were said to actually taken this formula, two lost warriors known as the Red Skull, and Captain America, both are presumed dead by now. The Kingpin wanted to get a hold of the formula and learned that my friend's father had it stored in his memory, so he kidnapped him and his daughter. To make Mister Harding comply, the formula was tested on my friend, Felicia. It worked, but the Kingpin is keeping her father hostage so she complies with him and does what he says. She calls herself the Black Cat now, and is just as strong as Captain America was," Spiderman finished with a little trail at the end of his voice.

"So all we gotta do is bust in here and get the girl and her dad, no problem," Trunks said.

"This is the Kingpin's headquarters! You can't just walk in the door and say hello, he's killed people for less! We must sneak in somehow and not be discovered, he has a lot of money and technology on hand," Spiderman interjected.

"I doubt he has what he needs to get rid of four Saiyans, we'll break this down and kick his ass," I said, a big bright smirk on my face.

"Kid, if you guys can actually do this and kick his ass, I'll take you all out for dinner," Spiderman laughed. _Whoops, he just gave us all the motivation we needed, I hope he's got the money_.

"Goten, Trunks, you can do the honors," Gohan said with a wave of the hand. Spiderman was gasping at the new hole in the side of the steel building a few seconds later.

"Got your wallet handy?" I chuckled as I turned to go inside. I could feel nervousness in Spiderman's ki spike a little. He was still shaking even after we had entered the hole in the building and into a long hallway.

After a good minute he finally came rushing in, "We should go this way," he pointed but stayed behind us. I trailed behind so I could speak with him on the way, Gohan led with the boys dancing around behind him.

"I think we can find your friend down that way, there's a high energy signal over there. The rest are up ahead," Gohan pointed.

Again Spiderman gasped, "How could you know that?"

"We can sense energy levels. Bigger ones are easier to find unless the person knows how to manipulate theirs, but even little ones like yours are easy to find if you're close enough to them," Gohan made it sound easy.

"Gee thanks, glad to know I'm so high on the scale," Spiderman huffed.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way, yours is one of the higher ones in this whole city. I was just using an example," Gohan apologized.

"Well don't sweat it, let's go get her out," Spiderman said, taking the lead down a different hallway. He broke into a dead sprint, like a desperate person would. We followed only to come to a screeching halt when he rounded the corner. Ahead of him was a tall man in a green suit, and the suit had a scorpion like tail about it that seemed to swing whatever way its master wished.

"Spiderman! Time to die web head!" Scorpion shouted. Scorpion swung his tail right at Spiderman, who leapt out of the way, and the tail came to rest at Trunks' outstretched hand, who grabbed a hold.

"Hey, let go kid! Ahhh, Damnit let me go, owww that hurt! OH NO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" he wailed as Trunks gripped down and ripped the tail in two without any effort. Green acid spilt out from the broken tail still attached, but it missed us and melted the floor instead.

"What, I was just helping you out, now it's shorter!" Trunks laughed mockingly. Scorpion's eyes turned bloodshot as his anger rose and he lunged at Trunks, who swept his feet and was back around with a ki blast charged and ready before Scorpion ever hit the ground.

"Surrender, otherwise you will give me no choice," Trunks declared, his hand right at Scorpion's now frightened face.

"No don't!" Spiderman shouted.

Trunks looked up and Scorpion scrambled for his life, "What's the deal, isn't he the bad guy? I was just giving him the option to surrender before I finished him off," Trunks whined in frustration.

"Yes he's the bad guy, but he deserves another chance. Maybe now he will give it up," Spiderman said in a pity filled tone.

"I'm guessing that you've faced him more than once and beaten him? Has he ever given up Spiderman, has anyone? Even when you beat them the worst, have any of them?" Gohan asked.

"No, all of them have come back for more."

"Well this is what we have learned the hard way: Try and let the enemy have another shot at a life, even with the best intentions, it can come back to bite you in the end. I don't know whether its truly right or wrong to approach it that way, but its been less painful for my family and friends when the same enemy can't come back to kill them, see what I mean? My father always managed to see the good in others when possible, but a lot of enemies have come looking for him afterwards," Gohan asked firmly.

Spiderman just shook his head slightly, "Well you may be right, but I resolved never to use my powers to kill a long time ago, and I wont change that now," he said defiantly.

Gohan just smiled, "That's ok, I'll make sure we don't kill the bad guys if we don't have to." Spiderman turned to a door on the near side of the hall way and immediately tried to open it with the computer panel, no go. Then he tried muscling it but the door didn't budge.

"Allow me," Gohan said, punching the door in the middle and ripping it off its hinges. Then a figure stepped out, dressed in black except for boots and gloves. This time a girl came out, and quite a good looking one too. She also looked as if she'd rip anyone a new asshole if they tried to take a piece of her.

"Cat, you ok?" Spiderman asked with opened arms.

"Spider! Who's your new friends, ooo this one is cute," She eyed Gohan, who right away reverted to blushing and scratching the back of his head.

"This is Gohan and his friends, they're sort of here to help," Spiderman stuttered.

"To take on Fisk you bring a bunch of kids?" Cat suddenly got angry.

"Hey we can help!" Goten protested.

"Sorry junior, but I need men to take on Fisk. This is not a place for children!" Cat scolded.

"I'll do this one," I said, putting a hand up and firing a weak ki blast at the far wall, shook the building and left a large hold behind. Cat's jaw dropped and quivered for a minute.

"Will that do for a demonstration?" I asked.

Gohan took the lead again, "Come on, the other bad guys are this way!" We followed, eventually Cat did once she let her thought process catch up.

"So you all have super powers like that?" Cat asked naively.

"That's right, though I wish we could get going home. Dunno how long exactly we've been gone but I think its approaching two days, our mothers have fits if they don't see us everyday," Gohan finished explaining as we crept down the halls of the Kingpin's headquarters.

"What's that furry thing around your waist?" Cat asked.

"That's a tail, let's just say it has some...chaotic properties when the full moon is up. I'm not quite sure if we should be keeping them, all it takes is one look and all hell breaks loose," Gohan continued, before stopping before a huge metal door.

"Fisk's main chambers are in here," Cat said, punching the door as hard as she could, "No use, the metal is too strong and thick."

"Stand back!" Gohan called behind them, ki blast ready to fire. Once Spiderman and Cat were out of the way he let it fly, leaving a good size hole in the wall. Calmly walking through it, we saw the big guy himself, Wilson Fisk, otherwise known as the Kingpin, standing behind a desk. There was quite a pissed off look on his face, but it changed when he saw us four Saiyans.

"Who are you!" Fisk asked, then he saw Cat and Spiderman behind us, "Ah my dear, I see the spider has tainted your eyes again, may I remind you that I still control your father's destiny. Dispose of Spiderman now and I may forgive you."

"You touch a hair on her father's head and you will live to regret it. Hurting the innocent is something I don't tolerate," Gohan declared his presence with a very menacing look.

"I don't know you are boy, but you had better leave now before I do something I might regret. Leave now on good terms or pay the price!" Fisk threatened. A door to my right opened and a few of Fisk's goons came in.

"Ah gentleman, good timing, your opportunity to destroy Spiderman may have come at last," Fisk turned to them. I glanced and observed some more of Spidey's enemies: Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Shocker, and Mysterio.

"Finally, Spiderman, prepare for the great beyond!" Rhino yelled happily.

"Hold it, even if you have a bone to pick with Spiderman, you have to beat us first!" Gohan shouted.

"You and the kids, you've got to be kidding!" Rhino mocked.

"Okay, big bad guy! Think you're so tough, I can beat you with my eyes closed!" Goten challenged.

"Whatever kid, fine I'll plaster you into the ground first!" Rhino charged Goten. The other "warriors" came at us as well. Doc Oc at Trunks, Mysterio at Gohan, and I got Shocker who right away tried to simply grab me by the back of my shirt. I swept his leg and elbowed his gut lightly, and he went down in a heap. He got up slowly and fired his electric blast at me. I put up a ki shield and watched it bounce off harmlessly. His eyes widened shortly before his blast came back at him and seemed to overload his suit. He tried to fire again, only to realize that the blast had screwed up his suit, so he did the only thing he could think of, run. I let him run out of the room, and observed the quick battles going on around me. Rhino was implanted in a far wall, not moving, but not dead either. Doc Oc was on the ground, missing 2 of his mechanical arms. Mysterio tried his multiple image trick with the holograms, but that would never work on a fighter like Gohan. He met the wall next and stopped his attack quite abruptly. Fisk stood in his place, and looked like he had just shit his pants.

"Next one baldy, or are you finally gonna give up?" Trunks mocked.

"Hardly," Fisk ran out of the room only to return right away with an old man, a fancy gun pointed at his head. "Surrender now!" Fisk ordered. Instead Gohan calmly walked straight towards Fisk and Mr. Harding.

"I am not joking around boy!" Fisk shouted, then pointed his gun at Gohan and fired. Fisk slightly smiled, but quickly gasped when Gohan kept coming forward and held out the bullet in his hand.

"Here you lost this," Gohan grinned and grabbed the gun out of Fisk's hand quickly. While Fisk was trying to figure out how he got the gun from him, he watched in horror as Gohan crushed it in his palm and tossed the metal aside. Fisk let go of Mr. Harding and ran for his life, the Cat rushed past Gohan and chased him down through his building.

"Fancy that, Fisk being chased down by his own doing," Spiderman laughed.

"Well thank you Spiderman and you boys for helping us. I don't know if there's a cure, or if she would even want it now, but I know that everything will work out," Mr. Harding said.

Spiderman looked up and suddenly gasped, "Hey didn't you guys say something about the full moon being a problem?" Instinctively Goten, Trunks and I looked out the skylight and saw the moon full and bright in the sky.

"Damnit!" I shouted as the transformation began to trigger in my body. Gohan felt the ki spike and rushed over to get Goten and Trunks out of view of the moon, I was already to far gone to stop it. But they had also gotten enough of a look to start up, their eyes glazed red. Gohan chopped them both in the back of the head and watched them fall unconscious.

"Whew, that was close," Gohan remarked, wiping his brow.

Then he set his eyes on me, "I thought they said you weren't gonna change!" he shouted.

"Relax, my change is...diffe...different," I spat out as my face changed. He didn't seem to relax until a few seconds later when he realized that I was not getting any bigger. Of course this was only the second time I had transformed, so it was still painful and I wasn't even close to used to it, however the added energy sure felt good.

When my change finished, I sighed slightly, "Sorry to keep it from you Gohan, you were bound to find out eventually. Vegeta requested that I tell no one, he got the first look at it," I said, a little sad to keep a secret like this.

Gohan just laughed, "Too bad these two wouldn't transform in the same way, oh well nobody is hurt. As for these two I had better remove those tails for keeps," Gohan said, pulling them clean out. Spiderman was still gawking at me, as was Mr. Harding.

"So now you're a werewolf?" Spidey asked, clueless to what actually happened.

"Not exactly, but had I transformed the way a normal Saiyan would, you would be running for your life from a giant gorilla. How's that sound?" I said, my tone fierce.

He stepped back, "I see, glad you didn't..." Shortly after that, Cat came back in without Fisk.

"I let fatass go, he isn't worth the chase...whoa what happened here...and what is that!" she screeched looking over in my direction.

I frowned, if it could've been noticed, "Thanks, I'll remember that in my book of compliments," I growled, stepping out of view of the moonlight and slowly reverting back to normal. As my body shifted back around, I bent down and clasped my knees, gasping for breath.

"Oh sorry, I didn't know it was you kid. Is that what the moon does?" she asked.

"Depends on the person I guess. Close enough," I gasped between breaths, the change was still not a normal thing to get used to. Then I heard a crash and explosion, coming from where Fisk had been. Spiderman and the Cat ran over there while Gohan moved the boys farther from the skylight.

He came over and placed his hand on my shoulder, "You okay there?"

"Yeah, that transformation is a bitch and leaves me exhausted," I said, standing back up.

"I know the feeling, let's stay away from that moon tonight," Gohan suggested. I nodded as Spiderman ran back in.

"The green Goblin just broke in and stole something, apparently it's some kind of dimensional portal technology. He could open another dimension with it and possibly cause great problems, like universal destruction!" Spidey said, panicked.

"Well unfortunately with that full moon out, we can't go out to help until it sets. Just find us a place and let us rest for the night and we can help in the morning," Gohan said. I nodded in agreement, noticing that he didn't mention food, but then again, I wasn't hungry now. I guess healing lady's effects lasted a little while, but rather it lasted until the morning was iffy at best. Not only that but the transformation feeling left me sore like I had the flu, so a meal really didn't sound too good anymore.

"Well I know Fisk has sleeping quarters around here somewhere, or you could just use his jail like facilities," Cat suggested.

"That'll do, just somewhere to sleep. We don't care where, just somewhere," Gohan said, picking up the boys in each arm.

"Whatever you say, hot stuff!" Cat said anxiously, causing Gohan to flush red again, "This way." After a bit of walking, Cat pointed out one of the cells as I opened the door and shut it behind me, wanting my rest. I sensed Gohan putting Goten and Trunks in another one and climbing in one himself. Then Cat and Spiderman left to the other side of the building, where I felt a faint sign of Fisk still around. Shrugging it off, I let sleep take me off to dream land.

**Interlude 15.1 –Goblin's plan**

"Fisk, that portal generator the Goblin stole, what were you planning to do with it?" Spiderman demanded as Cat had Fisk by the throat.

"Well, my dear, I was interested in releasing Electro, the Red Skull's son. Only this time I found a way to control him, before the goblin broke in and destroyed that. I suspect he wants to free him as well, only he wont be able to control him, what a fool," Fisk mocked the Goblin's name.

"Well then, I guess I'll blame you later, right now I am waiting on my friends to rest and recuperate," Spiderman accidentally said without thinking.

"Those people need rest?" Fisk caught on quickly.

"Thanks to your skylight they do, apparently they turn into destructive creatures when they catch a look at the moon when it's full. Fortunately they were able to prevent it from happening, but a few were knocked unconscious," Spiderman continued supplying the information.

"Interesting, do they need a job?" Fisk asked in curiosity.

His question got him a fist from the Cat, "Can it Fisk! Now get outta here before I kick your ass some more!"

"Very well my dear, but this is my home too, maybe I should have you arrested for trespass..." he got another punch from the Cat before shutting up.

"You can come back in tomorrow you tub of lard!" she yelled at him as he hastily exited. Spiderman hung upside down from the ceiling, deep in thought.

"So Spider, what's the plan?" Cat asked.

"Well I'm trying to figure out why the goblin would even want to release such a dangerous being such as Electro. Surely Electro will destroy him once he's free, that's what he about did to his own father. Maybe the reason has something to do with why the Saiyans are here. They said something about some old wizard sending them through dimensions to fight enemies, maybe the goblin is being manipulated a little. Despite the fact he is generally insane," Spidey said.

"Guess we'll find that out later Spider, I wish that hunk Gohan would wake up, he's cute," Cat purred, literally. Spidey looked down about that statement, but said nothing to that end.

"Well sunrise is in a few hours, I suppose those four might be hungry when they wake up. I'm not much of a cook, where could we take them? They blend in pretty well except for those tails, and they don't seem the type to reveal secrets on identities?" Cat asked.

"Cat, I never told you who I was, and I know yours, I suppose that's not very fair is it?" Spidey said, starting to pull his mask off.

"You don't have to Spider, I know why you hide it, and maybe I'm better off not knowing," Cat said.

"Nah, not many people know anyway. Besides I would think anyone could've figured it out by now," Spidey said, pulling his mask off to reveal himself as Peter Parker.

"Peter! I don't believe it!" Cat said, astonished.

* * *

"So are you done amusing yourself now you blasted wizard!" Vegeta roared at the top of his lungs. It had been two days since he had tossed the boys out of the house for his personal time and when they did not show up in his ki scans he went looking for them along with Piccolo.

"Actually I am quite impressed Vegeta, those boys have defeated everything that has been thrown at them. I suppose after they beat this one, and I know they will, I could end it. But there are many other worlds I could send them to fight enemies. Funny though, it seems that boy Verto knows about these places, I wonder how?" The mage pondered.

"STEP ON IT!" Vegeta roared with impatience.

The wizard remained calm, "Now remember, harm me and I will not bring them back. So keep that in mind monkey brain!" the old wizard cackled.

"And remember what will happen if you don't Wizard. Kami remembers the way he easily could've destroyed you in a moments notice when he saved you from Garlic, so keep that in mind," Piccolo uttered in his deadly Namek tone.

"I see your point. I have one other challenge for them to meet though. They can beat single enemies, I wonder how they would do against many, and I don't mean just a few," the mage pondered.

"It does not matter, they will wipe out whatever you had in mind!" Vegeta smirked with pride.

"We'll see about that, Saiyan, we will see," the mage gloated.

**Power levels**

**After Healing:**

**Goten: 16,000,000, SS: 69,000,000**

**Trunks: 20,000,000, SS: 73,000,000**

**Verto: 23,000,000, SS: 77,000,000, transformed: 230,000,000**

**Gohan: 51,000,000, SS: 175,000,000, SS2: 312,000,000**

**Spiderman: 3,000**

**Fisk's Insidious 5: 1,000-3,000 (varied)**

**Black Cat: 5,000**


	17. Daywalker

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 16: Daywalker**

I awoke to my stomach growling like no other, it even made the room shake a little. I slowly got up and opened the door to the lonely jail like cell. I didn't really care that it lacked any comfort nor blankets, I just wanted the sleep. I had slept on worse, the floor of the time chamber for one when Vegeta made me sleep out there once. At least the jail cell's temperature didn't change with the blink of an eye. Gohan and the boys woke up in tune with their stomachs a few minutes later and I searched out Spiderman's ki. I found it outside the building, but coming back in quickly like he had to run an errand. I noticed the Black Cat's ki in the building as well, but much lower like she had powered down.

Before I could look into that though, I received a painful yelp in my ears, "Trunks, MY TAIL IS GONE!" Goten wailed.

"Hey what's the deal? Mine is gone too, but Gohan and Verto still have theirs!" Trunks whined.

"Sorry guys but you were about to transform, I couldn't let that happen ya know!" Gohan explained.

"What kept you two from changing?" Trunks asked. _Boy that kid doesn't miss the facts much_.

"We didn't look at the moon," Gohan said quickly, giving me a mental nod through my thoughts. _Well another secret saved_. "Let's see if they have anything to eat," Gohan suggested, already walking in Cat's general direction. This of course eliminated the worried and angry expressions the boys were carrying. After five or six turns in hallways, we found her in some type of lounge. She was no longer dressed as the Black Cat with silvery white hair, but as her true self, Felicia Harding with blonde, and a basic schoolgirl type outfit on.

"Finally, you four slept long enough!" she muttered aloud, but in a noticeable gentler tone then it had been.

Goten didn't catch on, "Who's the new girl?" Felicia smiled slightly while Gohan tried to explain that she had just powered down and it was like the Super Saiyan change.

"So is she a Super Saiyan too?" Goten asked, naive brain in full gear. I chuckled at the poor boy, starting to wonder if the clueless genes skipped around, since Gohan was pretty smart, yet Goku and Goten barely had a brain outside of fighting.

"No stupid, she just has a similar transformation. You can be such an airhead sometimes Goten!" Trunks claimed, talking like the prince he was.

"Hey, are you guys hungry?" A voice said from behind. I turned to see Peter Parker, otherwise known as Spiderman, coming in the room, bright smile on his face.

"Who's the new guy?" Goten asked.

"That's Spiderman Goten, he's just out of his outfit, but the energy signal is the same, okay bro?" Gohan explained, exasperated already.

"You mentioned food, may I suggest the nearest all you can eat place, we tend to eat a lot," I said, speaking for everyone else. Peter seemed to accept that, probably glad that we didn't suggest some high dollar fancy place.

"Well I know of one about a block and a half from here, pretty decent there. Just watch the egg rolls, they've never agreed with me," Peter suggested.

"Good, let's get going, boy am I hungry!" Gohan said loudly as our stomachs were all growling in eager anticipation.

* * *

Peter's jaw remained planted on the table in front of his food as he watched us dismantle the buffet he took us too. Felicia kept a disgusted look as she watched us, probably thinking about pigs. We just ignored the general astonishment in the room, most of the onlookers couldn't even lift their food to their mouths.

"Hey those people are looking at us," Trunks whispered.

"Let them, its not their concern," I muttered in between handfuls. When we got up for round five, the manager stepped in the way.

"Are you all enjoying your meal?" he asked.

"Must be if I'm still eating it," I said, going past him. Piling more food on I went back to the table to the still gawking onlookers.

"You said you ate a lot, but geez!" Peter gasped.

"You outta see us with good food," I grinned and dug in again. After eight trips our pace finally slowed a bit and we polished off our huge appetites with a pie...for each of us.

Felicia found her tongue and finally spoke, "Good god, how do your families keep food in the house?"

"Rich parents," Gohan grinned.

"Well when do you guys want to go track down the goblin?" Peter asked, lowering his voice a lot.

"Now works, the sooner we get going, the better," Gohan said, getting up.

As we headed out the door, I saw the manager hanging a sign on the door reading: "Will close at Noon today." I chuckled and followed everyone down the street where Peter and Felicia could change.

* * *

To a normal person, seeing Spiderman "web-sling," as he called it, would be quite the sight. Add the Cat doing similar and four Saiyans flying through the air and you've got instant front page. During the flight to where he was leading us, we sensed a big ki spike in the direction we were going.

"Hey Spiderman, you said he was trying to free this super powerful dude right?" Trunks asked.

"Yeah why?"

"I think he just did," Gohan interjected.

"Damn, lets get moving!" Spiderman shouted, letting the webs shoot quite far to pick up his pace. Cat ran out of rope to shoot so Gohan swooped down to carry her the rest of the way.

"Mmmm, you wanna crash at my place tonight?" Cat asked rather suggestively.

"Uh...heh heh..." Gohan laughed and groaned at the same time, blushing. We came up on a large building that said OsCorp on the side, the powerful ki was inside, along with one other. Landing, Spiderman started climbing the wall on one of the smoke stacks.

"Ahem, Spiderman, did you forget?" Gohan asked while blasting the outside wall and leaving a big hole. Spidey seemed to mentally slap himself and jumped down to enter the building.

"This way," he pointed and led the way, running all the way. We came up to a large and heavy metal door, the ki sense was just beyond it. Gohan made short work of the door with a punch and knocked it clear across the room. Entering I saw the Goblin on a glider, cackling like crazy.

"Is that him?" Trunks asked, pointing to the dude in green spandex that was laughing along.

"Yes, that's him, we have to be careful," Spiderman suggested as he stared at Electro and then a bunch of robots that stood nearby.

"Spiderman! Your too late, now say goodbye!" Electro cackled and crackled with energy. The robots came to life and came after us.

"Oh I hate robots!" Spiderman grumbled.

"No problem!" Gohan said, lifting into the air. Six robots in all came in our direction, Gohan took them all on. A few seconds later six headless bots landed on the ground and promptly blew up.

"No matter, I'll destroy you myself!" Electro screamed happily and shot a beam of electricity at us. Gohan put up his hand to block the blast, but then changed his mind and fired a blast back to intercept. Electro gasped, probably at Gohan's ability, then poured energy into his beam. Gohan countered easily, not struggling much if at all. Electro's energy began to wavier and fade, Gohan put some more in to apply the pressure. Goblin started to move towards us and fired a missile at Spidey. He dodged, and it hit Trunks. Every non-Saiyan in the area gasped, louder when the smoke cleared to reveal Trunks unscathed. He charged a blast and tossed it at the glider, sending Goblin flying off and into a discarded robot, the glider exploded. Electro finally gave out and collapsed to the ground a moment later.

"Spiderman, though he is beaten now, he would easily escape and overpower you again. I suggest you allow me to finish the job so he cannot hurt anyone again," Gohan said, standing over Electro with a hand outstretched.

Spiderman looked down, sadness in his ki signal, "You're right, proceed." Two seconds later Electro was dust and the blue portal appeared in the middle of the room.

"That's our ride Spider person! Thanks for the meal!" Goten said happily.

"Thank you for helping me out, couldn't have done it without ya!" Spiderman said wrapping up the Goblin in webbing. The Cat then came over and stood before Gohan.

"Uh...guess this is goodbye now," Gohan said with his family grin.

The Cat approached slowly and gave him a playful peck on the cheek, "Bye now handsome, come back another time and we'll take care of business!" she said in a seductive voice. Gohan blushed and ran shyly through the portal, out of options. The boys and I followed, they made gagging noises the whole way.

"So are we going home now big brother?" Goten asked.

* * *

"I don't know Goten, I hope so!" The portal turned red and opened up, revealing a dark sky in the middle of a city at night. Immediately the ki sense that the people were giving off felt way different.

"Hey Gohan, you feel that? It's like I'm getting two different races of humans. I feel more of the normal kind, but the other has a lot too, and slightly stronger," I whispered. Gohan remained silent, but nodded, glancing around at the environment. I then sensed some of the unfamiliar ki nearby in an alley, five of them, and coming closer to us, but moving rather odd. All five stepped from the dark alley in a group, eyeing us with huge grins display on their faces. They looked human enough, but my senses knew better, sensing they were very cold in temperature compared to humans.

"What do we have here? Four little humans out this late, you kids are up past your bedtime!" the leader said. He had on a black vest with chains hanging in various places, as well as ear piercings, classic punks.

"What's it too ya sleazebag?" Trunks mocked them.

"You should learn to watch your mouth little brat, just for that you go first," the leader said and took a step forward. The other four started to move around us, encircling. Each of us dropped back in a fighting stance, facing each corner, unsure what may actually happen. The punks opened the mouths and hissed at us, and then I saw the fangs.

"Gohan, why do their teeth look like Mr. Piccolo's?" Goten asked naively.

"Goten, I think they're vampires. They suck your blood out and make you one of them if they bite you on the neck!" Trunks yelled at him.

"That's bad! Don't let them bite me big brother!" Goten wailed.

The vampires laughed and hissed, "Don't worry kido, it won't hurt long. Then you can enjoy the good times!"

"I'll show you a good time, it'll last about three seconds," I smirked.

The leader kept laughing, "Okay boys and girls, let's get this show started!" he said loudly as the vamps started to circle. I hardened my stance, ready for one to pounce. All of a sudden something hit the leader square in the head and he seemed to burn to ashes from the head down, leaving a silver stake. A spinning blade tore through the air and hit two of the other vamps, they burned up as well.

"It's the day walker! Run for it!" one vampire said to the other. They ran side by side and made it about twenty feet before a dark figure jumped down in front of them, drawing a sword. They tried to attack him as he drew the sword, only to be cut apart and burned up while losing both arms.

Goten and Trunks seemed to stutter there for a second, "COOOL!" They said together. The dark figure approached and re-sheathed his sword, cautiously looking us up and down. When his face came into view, I saw a very short haircut, nice looking shades, a black vest and cape like coat.

"You kids should not be out this late, vampires are about," he said with a very deep voice.

"Sorry, but were looking for some great evil we were sent to defeat, know where we can find one?" Trunks asked without thinking.

Gohan glared at him, "What my friend means is that we were sent to handle any serious problems you may have. I'm Gohan."

"Blade." he said. _Well that explains that_, I was face to face with the vampire hunter himself. What didn't make sense though was the fact that we had just left what I deemed to be the Marvel Comics world and yet, there was Blade in a completely different one. _Then again, it's probably just another parallel universe thing. That sure wouldn't be anything different right now. _

"I can sense that you are not totally human Blade, but you're not one of them either," Gohan asked.

"I am half human and half vampire. I have all of their strengths, none of their weaknesses, except for the thirst," Blade said sharply.

"Does that mean you drink blood too?" Goten asked, taking a step back.

"No, I have a serum to help me block the thirst," Blade said, not really smiling nor frowning, "You kids should go home."

"No vampires will dare mess with us Blade. You hunt them right? We can help!" Gohan asked.

"What good will you do? This isn't a kids game!" Blade growled a bit. Gohan held up a demonstration blast to a nearby wall, it vanished.

Blade jaw slipped a little, "In that case, follow me." We followed the dark knight through many alleys to a large office type building, a lot of vampire ki at the top, along with a large one.

"This is Decan Frost's hideout, he was a vampire I was hunting when he tried to resurrect a vampire myth called the blood god. He succeeded and turned into the Blood God, but he forgot that he might still be sensitive to certain things. I was unable to beat him, but the sunlight drove him off before he could finish me off. Then he found that moonlight damaged him as well, so only once a month will he have a chance to come out, that once is tonight. And tonight he will meet his end." Blade seemed to go into a preacher speech. I blinked sharply as he explained what was going on. Something about it just didn't fit, but I didn't bother saying anything either. Timeline changes were beginning to be automatic for me now.

"On top of that building right?" Gohan asked.

"Correct, whoa, hey!" Blade suddenly shouted at Gohan lifted into the air and grabbed his arm to lift as well. Me and the boys followed as he ascended up to the top where the was a large gathering of vampires along with the large power, who only could've been Decan. Landing on the roof, Blade gathered himself, then shouted so loud you'd think a bomb went off.

"FROST!" The door on the roof opened, and surrounded vampires came pouring out and surrounded us. Decan Frost appeared, looking very similar to the movie version, with red eyes.

"Blade, glad you could make it to my coming out party. Your friends thirsty?" he smiled and spread his arms. The other vampires hissed and surrounded us.

"Frost, this is where you end." Blade hissed back. Blade then pulled his sword and charged Decan. He cut across Decan's middle section, and the upper body started to fly off. Then blood came out of both ends and pulled the body back together.

"You can't beat me Blade!" Decan mocked. Then he punched him hard and fast so that Blade could not even follow it, knocking Blade back. Right when Blade got back up, Decan circled him three times and back to his front before he could even react. Then he gave him another blow to the chest, sending him sprawling. He charged Blade again, only to get his head blown off by a ki blast from Gohan. Blood regenerated it and he looked over in amazement. The other vampires hissed and began to circle towards Gohan.

"Boys now!" I yelled and powered up quickly to rush the vampires. Six of them turned and raced towards me. One of them tried to punch and another kick, but they were too slow. I kicked one in the head so hard that it came off and its body burned away. The rest I vanquished with small ki blasts to the heart area. Turning around, I saw that the boys had wiped out a dozen others in similar fashion. The last two fell to small ki beams shot from my fingers.

Gohan was having a stare off with Decan, which involved Decan sweating a lot under the collar.

Then he stopped shaking and smiling slightly, "I just realized that I can turn everyone now," he cackled and his whole body turned red and expanded into a huge wall stretching to the ground. It swirled with colors, just like blood. The wall began to move towards us, cutting through the building as well.

"Fly!" I screamed as it closed in quickly. All four of us flew in the other direction as the blood red wall passed through the buildings and followed quickly. Below me I could feel humans become vampires in a snap, no biting was taking place. Decan was simply passing through them and they turned just like that.

"Gohan, we can't keep letting him do this! He's changing everyone in the city into vampires just by chasing us like this!" I shouted.

"Put up an energy shield and let him pass by. If he resumes his original form we'll blast the hell out of him!" Gohan ordered. Trunks and Goten put theirs up, as did Gohan, but mine faltered due to inexperience on what I was blocking and it failed as the blood red wall passed right through me. I panicked at first, and then gathered my energy to fight the change, causing me to lose focus and fall to another rooftop.

"Verto!" Gohan shouted. Decan reformed into his regular body on the same rooftop that I fell on, looking me over as my body tried to reject the vampirism, as well as me personally.

"Come to my side, join us!" Decan hissed. Gohan jumped down in front of him and blasted his whole upper body clean off. I began to falter on fighting the infection off, my tail twitching a lot, and I began to fall asleep, using too much energy to fight it. Then I blacked out.

* * *

I woke up on a cold metal table, an old guy with a long beard was standing over me, and a nurse on the other side.

"How do you feel son?" the old guy asked. My tail was twitching a little bit.

"Normal, depending on your definition. What the hell happened?" I asked.

"You were infected, but somehow your body fought off the infection, its completely gone. I wasn't sure what to make of it until your friends over there said you were part alien, I suppose that explains it," he said.

"Well my tail might be part of the body's defense system, though you'd have to ask Gohan," I explained. Sitting up, I saw Blade on the far side of the room, Gohan Goten and Trunks closer to me.

"What happened to Frost?" I asked.

"He got away, he turned into blood and slithered away after Gohan blasted off his top half, then we brought you here," Trunks explained.

"Wait he infected a lot of people, what about them?" I asked again.

"Unfortunately we can't save them all, all we can do is fight the existing menace," the old man said.

"Well let's track down Frost again, let's try to trap him in the daylight when the sun comes up!" I suggested.

Blade looked up, as did Gohan and the boys, "Good idea kid, except that he left without much of a trace!" Blade snapped.

"We can find him though!" Gohan said, lifting his head up to sense energy. I did as well, sensing the higher number of vampire ki, then I located the big one, not far away.

"There he is guys! Lets get him before sunrise gets here!" I shouted, blazing off before anyone could say a word.

I took lead in the search for Decan, and really I was kind of pissed that he tried to change me into a vampire. Soon I felt Gohan and the boys catch up, and Blade was in a car below us.

"He's up ahead!" Gohan called out. I saw Decan on the ground, waiting on us it seemed.

"Oh you didn't turn, that's quite a surprise youngster. They must've been able to cure you before it took effect. What a shame, I'll just kill you instead!" he cackled, charging us. I didn't waste a breath this time and pulled my arms back.

"Galic gun...FIRE!" I blasted at Decan directly, the beam cut through him and shredded him apart. After the smoke cleared, I observed in shock that he was regenerating. It was bizarre, he was so much weaker and yet survived. _I gotta remember that this won't be the only time I encounter someone like this. At the very least I'll get the practice now. _Gohan and the boys then jumped up and we all blasted the hell out of Decan. He splattered all over the road time and time again, only to regenerate again. That's when Blade showed up and waited for Decan to regenerate.

We got ready to blast again, but Blade stopped us, "No wait." Decan reformed and noticed Blade for the first time.

"Blade, how nice of you to come, your friends are very entertaining," Decan laughed. Blade held up a pack of test tube vials.

"What's that? Your serum? Can't save ya now buddy, but if your thirsty hang on cause here I come!" Decan yelled and ran towards Blade. Blade hand tossed the vials straight at Decan and I saw all of them hit. The blue liquid inside poured into Decan's body, affecting him. Then he started to puff up, and his clothes ripped off as he turned into a huge blood red balloon. Then he exploded, splattering once again. We waited a few seconds, and then saw that he didn't reform, his energy signal was almost gone.

"What was that stuff?" Gohan asked.

"EDTA, has an interesting affect on vampire blood. Figured I'd try it," Blade explained.

"I'm not done yet you vermin!" came Decan's voice. We looked up to see him slowly reforming, though he was having trouble maintaining it due to the chemicals. His body came together slowly, then he proceeded in actually puking up the blue fluid and his ki rose back to where it had been before.

"Guess we just hold him off now," Gohan said, powering up to Super Saiyan, though it probably wasn't necessary. When his hair turned gold, Decan's red eyes suddenly shrank in fear. In the distance behind Decan, I could see daylight starting to come.

"_Hey Gohan, try to keep him in the air, I see the sun starting to come up_," I thought at Gohan. Though he didn't acknowledge, I knew he got the message as he glided towards Decan and began to relentlessly beat him up. Decan may have had new power of a mythical Blood God, but he damn sure wasn't going to beat Gohan with it. I noticed that Gohan wasn't even blasting him anymore, not that it mattered since he would just reform. Then I realized why, he'd be too tired from taking blows that he would not notice the sun come up behind him. In between pumblings, Decan tried to punch at Gohan, only to miss, though it didn't seem like Gohan had even moved.

"Argh, curse you!" Decan spat.

"Why me? You already are!" Gohan proclaimed.

"Arghhhh, I will find a way to kill you, or turn you!" Decan declared.

"I doubt that Frosty, you will be dead!" Gohan smirked with confidence.

"You forget, I will never die!" Decan laughed crazily.

"Well part of me believes you, but my friend behind you disagrees," Gohan pointed behind Decan.

He spun to see the start of a sunrise, "Shit!" and he began to dive to the ground.

But Gohan was already there with a ki blast charging up, "MASENKO...HAAA!" Gohan yelled as the blast pushed Decan into the sky, where he exploded in the sunlight. Gohan landed back on the rooftop we were on.

Blade came up, "Thanks," was all he said, before turning around and walking towards the roof door.

The blue portal appeared a few seconds later, "That's our cue to go, nice meeting you Blade!" Gohan said. Blade just sort of nodded and turned and walked away. The portal closed behind us and turned red again instantly.

"Well that one was short guys, maybe were about done," Gohan said.

"Shoulda let me finish that one off, I owed him big time," I muttered, scowling.

"I could have, but I didn't want you or the boys' inexperience to be a factor. Either way, job's done. I'll make it up to ya with a good match someday," Gohan replied calmly.

I grinned back, "I'll hold you to that!"

The portal tunnel then vanished and we found ourselves in a familiar cave.

"About time! I could be training you know!" came a familiar voice.

**Power levels:**

**The Saiyans stay the same**

**Green Goblin: 2,000**

**Spiderman 3,000**

**Black Cat 5,000**

**Electro: 200,000 (proven in Spiderman episodes when he decimates everyone)**

**Vampires: 100-500(varies)**

**Blade: 1,000**

**Decan Frost AKA The Blood God: 10,000**

**A/n: I originally planned to go a lot further with this alternate reality bit, but I also wanted to get further into Verto's story rather than linger with the alternate reality issues. For you avid fans of crossovers, you probably won't be disappointed with what I have in mind in the future.**


	18. Home at last

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 17: Home at Last**

Vegeta stood before us, the usual scowl upon his face, arms crossed. Even through his hard exterior, I could see he was actually glad to see us. I spent enough time with him to figure out what was behind that thick wall of pride. Despite that little fact though, it was still hard to tell.

"About time brats, I was beginning to think you weren't coming back. That would have been fortunate, but then the woman wouldn't have left me alone until I flushed you out," he scuffed and turned back around towards the exit of the wizard's chamber but didn't move.

"Nice to see you too Vegeta!" Gohan said politely.

"Save it spawn of Kakarot!" Vegeta snapped.

"Well, you performed quite well, not that I'm that surprised. It's good that you can handle things in other worlds, for you may have to someday, that was merely a test. Your arrivals and battles won't hurt those timelines, for the ones you have been to were already altered to my test," the old mage explained. _Well that explains that…to an extent._

"The only one that was hard was fighting that Apocalypse guy, the rest were too easy," Trunks said in a mocking tone.

"Good, now listen up Wizard. If I hear about your trouble from the Kai's, you can guarantee a bad report from Dende to King Yemma. Then you will not enjoy the afterlife, I will see to that. Got it?" Piccolo barked and grabbed the mage by his cape collar.

"Crystal clear," the mage said in fear.

"Boys! Let's get going, your little vacation from training needs to be made up!" Vegeta ordered.

"Vegeta, they really did fight and use their energy up a few times. It would be the same as your training would it not? After all you Saiyans get a little stronger after every..."

"SHUT UP WIZARD BEFORE I BLAST YOU TO OBLIVION!" The mage promptly found his tongue and quieted it. With that said, Vegeta raised a hand and blasted a hole clean through the cave rock, and a chunk off the mountain.

"Enjoy your new skylight. Verto, Trunks, home, now!" Vegeta barked again. Waving goodbye to Gohan and Goten as well as Piccolo, we quickly followed Vegeta through the air, as the prince was not in a good mood, which didn't bode well for us later on.

"_That was a test young one, one day you will call upon myself for assistance, I await that day, until then farewell." _ I shifted slightly when I heard the old wizard's voice in my mind. But nothing else seemed to happen so I shrugged it off.

* * *

We arrived back at home rather fast. However when we went inside to see Mom with a very stern look on her face, we regretted hurrying home and began to wish we were elsewhere right now. Trunks knew right away what that look meant, and attempted to high tail it out the door, only to run into the brick wall known as his father. I stood my ground, knowing that this could be bad if she was that mad. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and prepared myself for the onslaught. When it didn't come, I opened them to see her stern expression turn to a worried one, then to a crying one. Then before I knew it both Trunks and I were locked in a death squeeze from hell.

"Oh my poor boys, I was worried sick about you. I'm never letting you out of my sight again!" Mom began to ramble.

"Woman, they're Saiyans, they can take care of themselves!" Vegeta interjected.

"Well apparently not if they're getting stuck in different dimensions because you threw them out of the house for some nookie!" Mom screamed back, standing up and releasing us. _Oh boy_, I could see what this was going to turn into, Trunks must have as well, as he began backing off and turning the general direction of away. Fortunately the screaming match didn't begin, instead Mom turned her wrath away and gave us the worried expression again.

"You two go hop in the bath, you're filthy! Then you can have some dinner!" Mom ordered. I slowly nodded and released the breath I forgot I was holding.

"So you wanna take yours first?" I asked Trunks.

"Yeah sure, I hate baths. Dad says they're not necessary in a battle situation, in fact it provides distraction for the enemy, or so he says. That and Mom always demands to scrub me herself, its embarrassing sometimes," Trunks muttered.

"Well he's right about that, believe me I know!" I said remembering my training. Vegeta hardly bathed at all and the stench eventually got to everyone. It wasn't until Piccolo had the nerve to tell him he smelled worse then Nappa that he finally did something about it, well I think he did. He kicked everyone out of the palace area and threatened to kill us all if we dared come close while he was bathing. But then for all I know he simply powered up and removed the dirt himself, but I wasn't sure if that would really take care of the smell.

While Trunks was taking his sweet time in the bath, I sensed Gohan arrive for a few minutes. He didn't come inside, but instead talked alone with Vegeta out on the lawn, too far for me to hear. Though I didn't hear the conversation, I knew what it was about. It had to concern my transformation in one of the other dimensions. Trunks and Goten never saw it and Gohan had never told them. After chatting for a few minutes, Vegeta barked something to which Gohan lowered then nodded his head. Then Gohan took off, but not towards his home, more towards Kami's Lookout. Then I realized who removes Gohan's tail all the time, Piccolo. Vegeta came back in and came upstairs into my room.

"So did you hear the conversation?" he asked.

"Didn't need to," I muttered, staring out the window.

"Well the secret will stay with Gohan and myself, but this transformation stage gave me something interesting to think about," Vegeta continued.

"What's that?" I asked, turning around.

"I think you may need it as a trump card. I'll teach you how to make a fake moon blast, but only as a last resort. You've seen how tired one gets when leaving the form, you're lucky to stay standing without rest. As I heard from Gohan, you changed, but when returning to normal you were still conscious but severely winded. Therefore you should only use it as a last resort outside your Super Saiyan form. Since you don't turn into a giant reckless ape, you can use this to your advantage. While it may seem silly to do this as we haven't had an enemy that would require that amount of power, you never know, do you understand?" he finished.

I nodded, "Yes sir."

"Good, we can practice in the gravity chamber after Trunks and yourself finish training for the day. That way no one else can learn of it due to the shielding of the chamber," Vegeta said.

"What about Gohan? I saw that he took off in the direction of Kami's place, is he gonna have Piccolo remove his tail or something?" I asked.

"He is going to consult with the Namek first, however that should not be your concern. Tomorrow at dawn, I will teach you how to make a fake moon. Everyday you will practice it in the gravity room so you can adjust to your transformation, understood?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Good," he said, turning on his heel and exiting the room just as Trunks emerged from the bath.

He came down and looked in, "What did my Dad say to you?" he asked when he saw my small frown.

"Nothing major Trunks, don't worry about it. Nothing bad," I said. _Depending on your point of view that is_.

"Oh ok, hurry and get cleaned up, I want dinner!" Trunks said with the one-track mind and grin in place. After bathing quickly, and trying not to slip on one of Trunks' many bathtub toys, I dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and went back down to the kitchen. I was still having trouble in this big place, it didn't help that I seemed to be away a lot so I couldn't adjust. Fortunately I had Trunks' energy signal to follow, I didn't get Vegeta's, but he was in the gravity room, no shock there.

* * *

Trunks was pacing back and forth when I finally walked in, "Took you long enough, I'm STARVING!"

"Now Trunks, think about it when you have to wait for Goten when Chichi has to bath him, that wait was pretty mild," Mom said from the stove. On the table was a ton of food, of course, three Saiyans in the house it better be full of food. Vegeta emerged from the chamber and came in. Sitting down, he dug in right away, not waiting for anyone.

"And you say Trunks gets his bad habits from me huh!" Mom said with a frown.

"What woman? Your coofing your usifual bad meal, and I am acfually eating it, whaf more dof you wants?" Vegeta asked with a full mouth.

"Argh! Forget it!" Mom turned back around and muttered about cocky Saiyan Princes. Once Trunks saw Vegeta scarfing he joined in the action, I did once I realized the food might be gone before I touched it. Mom just collected dishes and began washing them by hand as we wore down the food supply. After dinner was over, Vegeta went back to his precious Gravity Room, Trunks went to one of the lounges and watched TV, and Mom continued working on the huge stack off dishes. After a few minutes, I got up and walked over to the sink next to her. She didn't notice as first, but when she did she looked annoyed.

"You're still hungry huh? Well it be a little while!"

"No, I was going to ask if you wanted some help doing those dishes?" I asked, feeling guilty I hadn't brought it up earlier.

Her expression changed to a sad face, "No that's okay, go have fun. You're too young again to worry about chores and things about responsibility," she said with a small grin, but I saw past it.

"Keep in mind who you're talking to, mother. I don't believe that anyone is ever too young to learn life lessons. How often do you get help on all these dishes?" I asked, making my point.

"Not since Trunks drank from a bottle," she said quickly.

"Okay then, want me to wash or dry?"

"Dry." I floated up to the sink and began drying quickly and stacking them neatly on the side of the sink.

"Thank you, glad to know someone noticed," Mom said sadly.

"Mother-son bonding right?" I said with a wide grin.

"It's not that he is too full of himself to help out around the house, he does help out once in a while, when I scream my head off at him. I just think he could do some of the chores on a regular basis, after all he doesn't hardly ever leaves during the day. I'm always helping Dad with the company and the chores are stacked up by the end of the night. The robots do rather badly with dishes so I do it myself," Mom said, "But in return I know I have his protection and loyalty no matter what happens. Whenever other guys around hounding around me, he chases them off when they stray too close, and whenever pretty women are hounding him, he tells them that they're all ugly and they eventually leave too. I remember back right after Frieza was killed that Yamcha and I had a big argument. Yamcha never helped with chores either and really lazed around here with other women while I working and demanded a meal when I came back. Vegeta came in one night during one such argument and stuck up for me, telling Yamcha he should worry about his training before the Androids arrived and killed him. Yamcha challenged him to a fight then and there, needless to say he lost horribly. It's a big reason Yamcha left and Vegeta and I got closer," Mom said, telling her story with a slight tear or two.

"Well that's one way to look at it. Tell you what Mom, I'll help you out with the chores. Just leave a list behind for stuff to do during the day, assuming Vegeta doesn't stick me in the gravity room all day. I can try to help out a little if I'm going to be staying here for who knows how long," I proposed.

"That's okay sweetie, that's why I have the robot maids. They just never do a good job on dishes because there are so many and their joints get stiff," Mom explained, grabbing the last dish, "But thanks for offering, I really do appreciate it, now run along. Vegeta would probably blow you away if he saw you slaving away at the sink," Mom said, giving me a little shove. I smiled and left her with her stack of clean dishes.

* * *

Strolling through the halls, I found Trunks in the lounge, but he had all kinds of toys out in front of the TV. Curiosity struck at the worst time and I entered to observe the TV show he was so into.

The answer came to me when Trunks held up a red and white ball and shouted in sync with the TV, "Pikichu, I choose you!" I quickly walked right back out and paled slightly, _No, tell me that's not him and Goten's favorite show. Please, anything but that!_

That answer came quickly, along with the loud sound of static, "No! Why does the cable have to go out in the middle of my favorite show? That's so not fair!" Trunks shouted. _We now mercifully return you to our regularly scheduled timeline, have a nice day. _ I turned from the scene and went back up to my room and got an early sleep, seeing as I'd be up early anyway.


	19. Journalist's worst nightmare

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 18: Journalist's worst nightmare**

Ever true to his word, Vegeta taught me how to properly create a fake moon, but it wasn't something I got right the first time, nor the several that followed. Every successful try meant that I transformed and that usually brought on a heavy sparring, but training sessions with Vegeta almost always ended up that way. When the once a days started on mastering the fake moon, he basically had to drag me out at the end of the day. I would be awake enough to gobble down dinner and bathe, but that would be it until I got some sleep. About a week after that, two transformations a day started, Vegeta had me over his shoulder, dumping me on the sofa almost every night until I snapped out of it.

"So why do you always keep him in there so long Dad?" Trunks asked one day.

"Not my fault the boy has more will to train than you, you would still be stronger than him if you trained as much as he does!" Vegeta mocked his own son. That seemed to do the trick, I saw Trunks eyes darken a little, and obviously his father's acceptance was as important to him as it was his future counterpart. Soon I was down to one change a day when Trunks started getting up when Vegeta and I did and staying longer than Vegeta requested of him. Also true to Vegeta's word, he kept Trunks from ever knowing that I transformed at all. It didn't help when Trunks actually wanted to train more, but by that time I was mastering the fake moon blast enough to stop using it every day. It was kind of a complicated trick using ki energy along with oxygen, or at least that was how Vegeta put it. It took me over a month just to do one right.

It was during this time that Gohan finally had Piccolo remove his tail again, and he also restarted his training. He and Goten sometimes showed up for sparring matches whenever he didn't have to study. Vegeta thoroughly enjoyed days when Gohan would show, that meant he could have a suitable sparring partner and not a few kids he could beat easily when going Super Saiyan after we did. Trunks and I got paired as sparring partners a lot, either one on one, or the two of us against Vegeta. Trunks liked to throw different looks and strategies at me, to throw me off guard. Mostly due to the fact I had the advantage in strength and power and in a straight on fight he could not beat me. He generally liked to hold back until the last minute, go all out quickly and beat me down before I had the chance to counter. Though he sacrificed a lot of energy by going fast, it worked, until I started mimicking that strategy and forced him to come up with something else. That strategy only got him an ass kicking from Vegeta, who constantly scolded him to never hold back until the end like that in a real battle. Also, the gravity room was almost never set on anything below fifty time normal gravity, except for when I was attuning to the fake moon blast.

After I had adjusted to the transformation and mastery of the fake moon skill, Vegeta would only occasionally send Trunks out to the Son residence so he could train with Gohan and Goten. Then he would power all the way up to Super Saiyan 2 and face off with me. While I didn't have a chance in normal or Super Saiyan mode, I had one in my transformed ape state. So I fought him like that. It made Vegeta happy to know I could almost match him when I was in ape form to his ascended level. Then he could really turn up the heat and I could dish it out on him as well. I never won one match though, not once, even when I had him against the ropes. I could sometimes beat Gohan when he would show up and go all out, and he was almost the same. Never Vegeta though, he was just too crafty. Hell, if I beat him down enough he would just destroy the fake moon and deflate my power, and any chance I had to begin with. That didn't mean I didn't give Vegeta a run for his money though, I did just that.

Things went smoothly for about six months after sparring a lot in my ape form. Eventually, Vegeta didn't spar me everyday like that, early on he did. After awhile it would be a surprise that happened maybe once every two weeks as he couldn't always get Trunks out of the house because his new found will to keep up with my strength. I learned that Gohan had just recently started school at Orange Star high in Satan City, which meant of course that he would be meeting Videl soon and would need the Great Saiyaman outfit made. Sure enough on his first day he showed up. And Mom made the ridiculous outfit for him.

"Hey Gohan, why does it matter rather people know you or not? It's not like they can do anything bad to you, I say who cares what they think!" I suggested to him.

"Yeah but I don't want the fame to go home with me everyday to invade my family's privacy, and people at school would think I'm a freak," he had said.

"Whatever man, just trying to help," I said, going back to the gravity room with Vegeta.

* * *

Yeah things went well, until one night at dinner. Mom announced that there would be an open house the next day.

I spat out my food on accident, "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Unfortunately its part of the tour that this group consisting of important figures and the press were granted when my dad promised it during one of his conventions on new ideas and designs," Mom explained.

"Just keep them out of my face and there won't be a problem," Vegeta growled.

"That's the problem Vegeta, Dad asked me to dress you guys up for the event. You won't have to say or do anything except attend the convention, but I need you with me when they arrive in the lobby. After all they would consider it strange that Bulma Briefs' own husband and sons could not attend a grand tour of their own home," Mom said with a hint of hope in her voice, but also sternness.

"Oh fine woman, if it'll keep you happy for another week," Vegeta growled as he gave up.

"And I know I can count on excellent behavior from anyone that is eight years old, RIGHT?" she gazed down at us. Trunks and I gulped and nodded slowly. "Good, its settled, you two should find a few sets of good clothes in your rooms. I highly recommend that you wear them tomorrow!" Mom beamed at us. After finishing off dinner, Trunks and I quickly retreated to the living room.

"Man I hate reporters, this bites!" Trunks whined.

"You and me both, looks like were stuck with the situation though," I said.

"Maybe not, we could just blow them up!" Trunks suggested.

"Think about that Trunks, as fun as it would be, it would equal a screaming lecture from Mom. I'd rather not have to deal with that," I countered.

He looked down for a minute, and then snapped his fingers, "Yeah if we blow them up, but if Dad does it we're off the hook!" Trunks celebrated his idea by throwing his hands up in victory.

"Vegeta hates them already. I doubt that would take much effort, and Mom, all they would have to do is ask her the wrong question..." I slowly saw where Trunks was going with this and returned the big smirk on his face.

"But what could we get them to ask Mom or Dad, hmmm that they're ugly or something?" Trunks asked naively. This is where being mentally twenty-two years old came in handy. I helped Trunks comprise a list of questions that would undoubtedly get a screech from Mom or a blast from Vegeta, or both. It didn't have to be what I would call censored language either, just very suggestive. Judging by how attractive Mom actually had been and still was, and what some others thought of Vegeta before and after he showed his always-bad side, the list I came up with would do just fine. Trunks was having trouble keeping quiet due to the extreme laughing he was doing when my mind began to think them up.

"Now how would we get the news people to ask all these?" Trunks pondered, chuckling a little more.

I already knew that one, "Just give them the list, though they may think twice about it if we just handed them the list. I know all reporters carry a list of questions with them to things like this. We make copies of this list, and then slip them into several of their briefcases or notebooks or whatever they have on them to carry their stuff. That way when they pull it out they won't have time to think the question over before reading it off, or they may read it first and get curious to what the answer may be and ask anyway, it'll work," I said, grinning ear to ear.

"This is gonna be so funny Verto, I gotta call Goten and tell him about this!" Trunks said, starting to skip off to find the phone. I laughed thoughtfully, the list was still prominent in my head. Then I realized what might just happen when Trunks tells Goten. Grabbing the list and stuffing it in the back of my gi, I rushed off after Trunks who thankfully didn't get to the phone yet.

Pulling him aside, "What are you nuts? You tell Goten and the plan is history, he will eventually spill the beans when he's laughing about it. Then Chichi will hear and I think you know the result of that! Don't tell anyone about it!" I urged.

"Oh crap, you're right. It wouldn't be the first time Goten did that, he can't ever keep a secret. Okay, I won't tell anyone about it," Trunks sounded disappointed.

"Don't tell anyone about what?" came a barky voice. We spun to see Vegeta standing in the hallway. "What are you two up to?" he asked._Damn, Vegeta has already caught on_.

"Nothing Dad, nothing at all!" Trunks said way to quick.

"Humph, well don't you two dare think that you don't have to train tomorrow. Once the woman is done and the idiotic humans leave, then you train, got it?" he shouted the last part to get his point across.

"Got it!" I said, slightly grinning by accident at the thoughts of how the press might be leaving tomorrow.

"Good, get to bed!" Vegeta barked, turning and heading back towards the gravity room.

"Whew that was close," Trunks relaxed a bit.

"See what I mean Trunks, you have to be careful when planning something like this. Now let's get some copies made before Mom tucks us in," I whispered. We scampered off to Trunks' room to do so. We finished just in time when we felt Mom approaching.

"Hide them under your mattress Trunks, and don't take them out until I tell you. We're going to make this work!" I said, quickly getting back to my room. I got back in there just in time as well, Mom opened the door just as the blankets settled.

"Well I see I don't have to chase you down tonight, good, I expect perfect behavior tomorrow!" she said, tucking down the blankets.

"I won't promise perfection, because it probably won't be there. In case I didn't tell you before, I hate reporters. But I'll do my best not to be a complete ass about it," I said.

"You'd better!" she claimed as she left for Trunks' room. I finally let myself feel relieved when she left his room without any disasters. I hadn't had time to actually see if Trunks hid the papers or not. With a sigh of reassurance, I drifted off to sleep, giggling at what tomorrow may bring.

* * *

I awoke to the sweet smell of bacon and eggs. Quickly I cleaned up and dressed in a polo T- shirt, and dark pants. I scampered across the hall to see if Trunks was up yet. He was just waking up when I knocked on the door.

"Trunks, where did you hide the lists?" I asked.

"Huh, what? Oh yeah! Under the mattress like you said, I have a small storage capsule over there we could put them in until later," he said, getting up and grabbing the capsule off a desk. Pressing the button, the cloud of smoke vanished to reveal a small briefcase, just big enough for our dirty deeds. Putting them in neatly, I recapsulized it and put it in my pocket.

"You better get ready, I smell a good breakfast ahead!" I said with a typical grin. Breakfast was kind of small, but Mom said it was to curb our appetites till after the convention that included lunch. Okay it wasn't that small, twenty rounds of eggs, pancakes and bacon slices for both Trunks and I. Trunks had on a dark red polo, and mine was green. Mom seemed impressed that we remembered to dress a little better today.

"Just want to look proper for any historic, ahem, events may happen today," I explained, realizing I just slipped big time. Trunks gave me a slight glare, but didn't keep it when Mom turned to him.

"Trunks, did Grandpa tell you about his new invention already?" Mom asked. Trunks' eyes went wide for a brief instant. I knew why, he hadn't had time to ask what Dr. Briefs was working on. He was too focused on training with Vegeta and I, so he had no clue what his grandpa had made.

"He kind of did, I still don't understand what it's supposed to do. Dad wanted me training after all," he answered. _Oh, good answer Trunks_, I thought, afraid that he was gonna blow it right there.

"Well he calls it the Ionic Pulser, I think. It supposedly advances and or reverses body age or something. It hasn't been tested on humans yet, but all of the animals he tested on were successful. Puppies became full grown dogs in no time with full stability. Old cats were turned back into young adults, or into kittens again if enough power was used, things like that," Mom explained.

"Are you sure its a good idea for something like that to be around? That sounds dangerous in the wrong hands?" I asked with slight concern.

"Oh its okay, no one would dare try to steal that, Vegeta is guarding it today. I decided not to take any chances there, plus it takes a special pass code from Dad to even turn on, and a different one to start it up," Mom tried to reassure me. I shrugged it off and finished my breakfast off before Trunks and I waited in the lobby for company to arrive.

* * *

The press seems to be the same no matter where you are. This was no different, the different hordes of reporters and camera crews arrived in bunches, all their news vans setting up with antennas going up outside. Inside it was our official job to greet them and tell them that Mom would be down at about ten to start the tour. The occasional camera flashed at us since we were the "grandsons" of the greatest scientist alive, but nothing major, just a quick picture or two with just Trunks and I. As every crew began to set up, Trunks and I spotted our prey. Every reporter set down a briefcase and went back out to assist in their respect News van. Trunks hid our papers behind the couch, every time a new target set down, He would rush over, go through the briefcases, and plant the deadly list and be done before anyone could see it happen. To be safe, I mixed up the questions on the pages the night before so they were not totally identical, surely some of the press would figure that out if they all had the same set of questions in the same order. I kept the camera crews distracted by asking how something worked, while Trunks did the dirty work.

After planting about twelve of them I nodded to him to signal to stop, overkill wasn't necessary if Vegeta got mad enough. More of the press arrived, and soon some of the more important figures arrived, which got some of the really nosey ones off of us. Mom finally came down with a list of names to call off, checking attendance. After she called all of the guests and news groups off, she added at the end:

"Verto Briefs, Trunks Briefs!" That got a general laughter from the crowd, and scowls from us. The tour kept pretty simple, and didn't involve anything upstairs thank god. The only trouble through the house was when we passed the gravity room.

"Umm Miss Bulma, why are there danger signs all over that metal door?" One such reporter asked, mic shoved in her face.

"Oh that room is being reconstructed and it's pretty unstable in there," Mom said quickly. The tour went on through the kitchen and out into the yard.

"Miss Bulma, why are there huge blast marks here. It looks like someone was playing with highly explosive devices?" Another asked. _Damn rubbernecks, I hope Mom has an answer for that one, I don't think ultra powerful energy blasts will cut it_.

"Oh those, just where we work on things that may explode suddenly. They tend to leave quite a mark on our back lawn," she said. _Wow, good answer_. After touring the highly damaged backyard, Mom led them back inside and back to the other part of the building. While there were a lot of rooms I hadn't seen, nor had most of the press, Mom kept them going towards a conference room at the end of the main halls. This room I had seen before, Dr. Briefs occasionally called Capsule Corp. employees to meet here and Mom had drug me along one day when Vegeta left to spar Piccolo or Gohan and Trunks was sent over to the Sons. There were several rows of chairs set up in the room, leading towards the stage and podium. Dr. Briefs stood with Vegeta and several employees on the stage, and beckoned Mom as well as Trunks and myself come up and join them. Vegeta did not look happy to say the least. While this wasn't a complete surprise, it was the fact that he was wearing his pink "bad man" shirt with yellow pants. I struggled not to laugh at this since I had never seen it on him before. The constant flashing of cameras probably didn't help any.

Once the cameras set up for the live feeds and the press was seated, I saw the briefcases appear, and allowed a small grin to appear on my face. Trunks nudged me and nodded. Then Dr. Briefs began his speech. The Ionic Pulser was pretty good size, but not that big. It looked like a big shotgun with fancy tubes and lighting. Dr. Briefs held it up for the audience and TV cameras and then proceeded to show it off, testing it on pets that employees brought along. Needless to say, perfect results, he then restored the pets to normal.

"This device has not been tested on humans yet, but results on animals and plant life have been excellent, more tweaking will take place before human testing, and the need for volunteers. However I believe that this device would make an excellent tool for slowing the aging process," Dr. Briefs finished, "Ok any questions."

"Is this going to be an item open to the market?"

"Probably not, it may dangerous if used improperly."

"When will testing on humans begin?"

"Soon, probably about three weeks."

"Does Mr. Vegeta's hair always stand up on end like a street punk?" That stumped Dr. Briefs for a minute, as it did just about everyone else, though Vegeta's frown got bigger.

"Um next question."

"Does Miss Bulma shave down south?" Just as the reporter uttered it, he turned pale right away. As cruel as the question was, I couldn't help but at least chuckle, trying to hold my laughter. Mom's eyes were wide open, before turning into a deathly scowl.

"That is none of your business! Next question!" she said, trying to stay calm.

"Is Mr. Vegeta circumcised?" _Oh, what a great order these are coming in_.

"Does anyone have any more questions about the device?" Dr. Briefs interjected before Vegeta did something rash, he certainly looked like he knew what the last one meant.

"Mr. Vegeta, is it true that you once tried to kill Son Goku, the martial arts legend?" _Oh yeah, now were cooking_. I knew anything mentioning Goku would piss him off.

"No, it was a standard fight," Mom said for him.

"Is it true you once tried to seduce Son Goku's wife?"

"What? No!" Vegeta yelled.

"Miss Bulma, how many times a week do you and your husband have sex?" _Ha, You can just feel the anger rising_.

"That is none of your business, stay out of it!"

"Is it true that your husband is really an alien trying to take over the world?" _Well that was true_.

"I suggest you stop asking these ridiculous questions before I blast you all to hell!" Vegeta threatened. That shut the room up very fast, and there was still a few good ones left. Lucky for us, two brave souls stood up to ask them.

"Mr. Vegeta, what position do you and Miss Bulma like best?" The reporter nearly swallowed his tongue after he read it, and saw the look on Vegeta's face, never mind Mom's. And the big finisher came just in time for the explosion.

"Our sources say that ever since you lost your fight against the martial arts legend Son Goku, you have been looked upon as a mediocre fighter. What do you think of these rumors?" At about this time, Mom and Dr. Briefs motioned the employees to back away behind Vegeta, knowing what was about to happen. The particular reaction that came after _lost_ and _mediocre_ seemed to spark Vegeta's already volatile energy.

"You want to know what I think about this, you've got your wish," he said with a familiar looking smirk.

* * *

I rummaged through the debris left after the few remaining reporters were able to get away. I guessed there were fifty newsgroups that arrived, with a crew of five or six each. Only a few lucky souls and the drivers of the vans survived Vegeta's wrath. Lucky for the nobles and rich folks, Vegeta didn't target them, though they ran for the hills anyway.

Dr. Briefs just shook his head, "Vegeta, you've out done yourself again."

"Vegeta, you didn't have to blow them all up!" Mom screeched.

"I didn't blow them ALL up, six of those eyesores got away," he answered smoothly. I glanced over at Trunks, who was still amazed at the result of our little trick.

"Not bad for a press conference, I'll have to remember that strategy when they shove the mic in my face again," I said aloud, trying to add to the discreetness of what Trunks and I had done.

"The nerve of those jerks! They've never invaded my privacy like that since I was sixteen when I dated Yamcha!" Mom cringed. _Perfect results_. Trunks and I retreated to the living room, before breaking out in uncontrollable laughter.

"Wow! I can't believe Dad actually blew them all up!" Trunks said in-between laughing fits.

"No no, he missed six of them remember? Muhahahaha!" I laughed some more.

"Can I tell Goten now?" Trunks asked.

"Oh no, better not, I'm sure Chichi already knows about what happened here. That was broadcast live! Every word!" I proclaimed. Just then I heard police sirens, coming close to the building.

"I don't think we're done yet, let's check it out through the window," I suggested. We rushed up stairs to look out Trunks' window, which held a perfect view of the front stoop, the yard and the far street. Below we saw the police having a standoff with Vegeta.

"Sir we need you to come with us now, you are under arrest!" Came a cop's voice through the megaphone.

"Why don't you place those remaining blasted reporters under arrest, they were invading me and my mate's privacy. When I last read your government's laws, that was forbidden!" Vegeta snorted, his arms crossed.

The cop thought that one over, "That may be true, but that didn't give you the right to plant explosives and kill them all!" the chief shouted through the megaphone.

"I did not kill them all, six remained. Let that be a lesson not to invade my privacy, or that of my mate's!" Vegeta turned on his heel and proceeded back inside. The cops found whatever balls they had and ran after him with nightsticks.

"Oh boy, the cops are gonna get it again. Last time Dad only maimed the few detectives for investigating missing people, I wonder what he's gonna do this time!" Trunks said loudly. A few seconds later the remaining officers ran in to tend to their fallen comrades.

"They'll live! Now get out of my sight!" Vegeta roared. I've never seen cops move so fast, even the now slightly injured ones got up and hauled ass out of there, limping away to their cars.

"Well this day sure did turn out interesting didn't it?" I said.

"Yeah, great plan Verto, that was fun!" Trunks said, jumping on his bed a little.

* * *

Later on I was dressing for training when Vegeta walked in and slammed my door, startling me.

"What's up?" I asked, tying my belt around my waist.

"Did you and Trunks have something to do with that incident this morning? I overheard something about a question list and giving it to the reporters," he said with a raised voice. _Well it was fun while it lasted, damn Vegeta is sneaky. _

"Yeah, sorry about that, Trunks wanted to see what would happen if you got mad enough to blow them up, and you know I don't care for them myself," I said, lowering my head and preparing for whatever punishment was going to be dished out. I looked back up at him only to see a pride filled smirk on his face.

"Exactly how did you get them to ask all of that?" I told him about the dreaded list that I came up with last night.

"Nice, you've got quite a mean streak. I figured you to be a pacifist like Kakarot's brat, aside from your training of course, and I think you made the world a better place now that it's missing some reporters. I knew you must have had something to do with it, even I haven't mentioned such things around my son yet, time for training, lets go," Vegeta said, turning and heading back downstairs.

**Power levels****-these don't truly matter, but it gets a better sense of where everyone is.**

**Vegeta: 55,000,000, SS: 185,000,000, SS2: 325,000,000**

**Verto: 31,000,000, SS: 85,000,000, Transformed: 310,000,000**

**Trunks: 28,000,000, SS: 79,000,000**

**Goten: 25,000,000, SS: 76,000,000**

**Gohan: 52,000,000, SS: 178,000,000, SS2: 315,000,000**

**A/N: I really do hate reporters, and frankly who doesn't when they shove that mic in your face and ask all those questions that DO invade your privacy. And yes, this was a direct reference to the infamous line by Vegeta shortly before the world tournament.**


	20. A School Day

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 19: A School Day**

I should've known that the cops would try to come back the same day. They showed up again around 2:30 when Vegeta, Trunks and I were finishing up lunch. Mom and Dr. Briefs were back to work so they were not around to see the events about to take place. After letting them wait a few minutes, Vegeta got up and beckoned us to follow him. Vegeta went straight out the door, Trunks and I went out but stayed on the front stoop to watch.

"Mr. Vegeta, you are under arrest, surrender now before we have to call in the swat team!"

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots!" Vegeta laughed aloud.

"Hold it Chief! I'll take care of this!" I heard a familiar voice behind the chief. Emerging from the horde of cops was Videl Satan herself. _Oh great._

"First the bacon, now the coward's girl!" Vegeta mocked. _Videl get out of here_! She obviously didn't hear my thoughts, but she did notice that I was back behind Vegeta.

"So Vegeta, I was wondering when they would send me in to take you out. I hope you enjoy your new jail cell!" Videl started up, cracking her knuckles. I got ready to stop her before she did something she would regret, if she lived. As luck would have it, Gohan dropped in-between her and Vegeta, dressed as Saiyaman of course.

"Stop Videl, you are in great danger if you proceed!" Gohan said in a very bad hero voice. I heard Trunks trying not to laugh at Gohan. I was finding it hard myself, the outfit was horrible, and the posing even worse.

"Get lost spawn of Kakarot, and take your girlfriend with you!" Vegeta barked.

"Kaka..rot? Who's that?" Videl asked, waving the cops off.

"His bothersome father girl, now get lost, all of you!" Vegeta ordered.

"Look I don't know this Carrot or whoever he is, but I was sent to stop you from hurting more people. Do you wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?" Videl threatened.

"Videl don't do this!" I shouted suddenly, taking a step forward. _Man, I didn't realize our little joke was going to lead to this_.

"No sweat kid, this jerk's been asking for it for a long time, I'm going to beat an apology out of him!" Videl continued.

Gohan's demeanor changed. "_How does she know you_?" He thought to me.

"_Sort of ran into her first day I got here, I never told her anything though. Just my name and she got me here, and I kinda helped her with a crook that got away_," I answered.

"All you guys get outta here, we'll meet back later!" Gohan shouted to the cops.

"Yes sir Saiyaman!" the responded and drove off quickly.

After they had gone, Videl approached Gohan, who stood still between her and Vegeta, "Why'd you do that?" she asked.

"Because you will only get hurt if you try to fight Vegeta. Videl, trust me on this!" Gohan urged.

"Humph, you must like her spawn of Kakarot, is she to be your mate?" Vegeta said with a smirk.

"What! No that's not what I meant!" Gohan retracted.

"Then why protect this foolish girl, daughter of a coward!" Vegeta pressed on.

Gohan didn't respond to that, "Videl, go back to school, now."

"But why Saiyaman?" she asked.

"Just do it, please, before you get hurt!" Gohan said.

"Fine, Vegeta I will come get you another day, that or my father will!" Videl said, tossing her helicopter capsule out.

"Oh no, whatever will I do? Muhahahaha!" Vegeta mocked. After Videl blasted off towards Satan City, Gohan took off his helmet and stared Vegeta down.

I heard Vegeta start to crack up, "What's wrong boy, did I hurt your mate's feelings? Get over it, you're a Saiyan, not a weakling human," Vegeta said cruelly.

"Oh just shut up Vegeta!" Gohan shouted, lunging at him. Vegeta saw this lack of focus and gave Gohan a hard right hand in the nose, causing it to bleed a little, then another on the other side to put him on the ground.

"Not here Kaka-brat! The last thing I need is that damned woman screaming at me for a fight out in public again! If you want a piece of me, you can do it in the gravity room! Be here at six!" Vegeta roared, filling the next square mile or so with his voice.

Gohan got back up, "Count on it," he said in a cold voice, before taking off and flying back to school.

**Interlude 19.1 –Bring a Guest-**

"Hey Erasa, how about we go grab a soda after school, just the two of us," Sharpner said, flexing his arms a little.

"Umm Sure! Hey Videl! Did you catch that bad guy that blew up all the reporters?" Erasa asked as Videl sulked back in.

"No he got away. Saiyaman sure didn't help any, kept telling me to run, he's such a jerk sometimes," Videl growled, sliding back into her seat. Then she noticed the empty seat next to Erasa.

"Where's Gohan?" Videl asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, he went to the bathroom just after you left. He said his stomach hurt, he's such a cutie though!" Erasa said.

"He's not that great, just a skinny book nerd. Probably couldn't hold down all that food he ate over lunch!" Sharpner frowned at the sudden attention to Gohan.

Just then Gohan opened the door and came back in, "Sorry, must've been something I ate," he said quietly.

"See, told ya!" Sharpner said in a victory style voice. Videl noticed the sad and angry look on Gohan's face, not to mention the big bruise on his face and the slightly bleeding nose.

"Son Gohan! Did you get in a fight?" the teacher shouted.

"Oh no, just bumped into the bathroom door, its a little hard," Gohan said, going back towards his seat, still frowning slightly. Videl watched as he took his seat, and saw has usually bright and clueless eyes turn dark and clouded like he was deep in thought or was very distressed.

"It's time for the math test!" the teacher announced. Videl grumbled, she hated math.

* * *

Gym class was next to last on the class schedule for the day, and then they had homeroom. Today they were playing Volleyball. Videl had seen Gohan do some strange things, but today he accidentally spiked the ball so hard that it flattened when it hit the floor. At first everyone thought it was just a bad ball. Only Videl seemed to notice the new crack in the floor when the ball made contact. Shrugging it off, she forgot about it until it was Gohan's turn to serve. The ball became imbedded in the far wall.

"You feeling all right Gohan? You usually serve it perfectly, something wrong?" the gym coach asked, with a slightly amazed look.

"Oh no its nothing, I just don't feel well today," Gohan lied. Videl kept her suspicious glance on him the rest of the day. _This is what happens when he doesn't feel well, _she thought, watching him mope around, looking at the ground.

At homeroom there was an announcement made that didn't seem to help Gohan's mood.

"Tomorrow is a special day, you are all required to bring a guest. It can be a friend, someone you admire, a family member, parents, whomever," the teacher read off a sheet. Gohan groaned, _oh great, what else could go wrong today_? Videl noticed his groaning but paid no heed.

He raised a hand, "Is it mandatory?"

"Yes!" Gohan's frown deepened, _So much for that idea._

"Oh what's wrong Gohan, hey isn't your dad Son Goku? Can't you get your pops to come or something, a lot of us here love martial arts!" Erasa asked. Most everyone nodded, even Sharpner.

"Yeah! No one has seen Son Goku in years, that would be an excellent guest for you to bring Gohan!" the teacher suggested, the name Son Goku rung in many of the teenagers' ears.

"No, he wont be able to come, sorry," Gohan said, looking awfully sad.

"Why not?"

"He just can't okay?" Gohan said, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"That's fine Gohan, but you still need to bring a guest." After dismissal, Gohan went up to the roof to call nimbus and soared off to Capsule Corp. Little did he know, but Videl had trailed him up there and watched when the yellow cloud pulled up and saw him sail off into the distance.

"I'll find out your secrets Son Gohan, mark my words." Videl uttered, taking off in her chopper.

Meanwhile Gohan was deep in thought on Nimbus, _Man who can I bring, hmmm Mom wont come, definitely not Piccolo, nor Goten or Trunks. Not Bulma or Vegeta, I doubt I could get Krillin and I don't know where Tien is, maybe Verto though, he said that he's gone through this before_. He continued to think it over on the way to West City.

* * *

I waited outside the gravity room for Gohan and Vegeta. Trunks sat on a bench nearby eating a cookie. We could feel some of the shockwaves, but could not sense through the thick walls, for they were Saiyan proofed by Dr. Briefs.

"I wonder who will win, Gohan or my Dad?" Trunks asked. The door opened, and both warriors stumbled out, looking quite roughed up.

"I haven't given you enough credit brat, you have more Saiyan blood in you than I thought," Vegeta mocked him.

"Geee thanks," Gohan said, grabbing a seat on the bench.

"Are you two done beating each other senseless now?" Mom asked from down the hall.

"Yes woman, unless you want some more boy?" Vegeta asked.

"No thanks."

Mom approached, "Well that's about the smartest choice you've made today Vegeta, thanks Gohan for saving the Satan girl before she did something stupid."

"Yeah sure, though I think it cost me a little a few minutes ago," he said, putting on a Son grin, "Anyway Bulma, I have this event at school tomorrow, I have to bring a guest, any ideas?"

Mom thought that over, "Not taking Goten I take it?"

"My hyperactive, sugar factory of a brother, no thanks. Plus I'm still trying to hide my powers, not show them off. Knowing Goten he won't be able to hold his tongue, or hold back," Gohan explained.

"Does it have to be a kid or can it be an adult?" Mom asked.

"Either, they didn't specify too much. It can be a family member, or a friend, and I don't think asking Piccolo to come would be a good idea. Same goes for Vegeta, no offence, as Videl is in my class...and I think her Dad is coming tomorrow, unless I can get you or Krillin to go, because I know mom won't."

"What about Verto?" Mom asked.

I gave her a glance, "Me?"

"Well you're about the best choice so not to spill the beans on Gohan's secrets, and your own for that matter. The only problem might be that Videl Satan, but surely she understands keeping her lips glued, we'll see. I can't go because I have a big conference tomorrow. I think you should go. You've been to high school before anyway right? You know how it goes," Mom said, with a slight grin. _Yeah now she acknowledges that_.

"I suppose," I said, making like it would be a hamper on my schedule.

"Can I go too mom?" Trunks asked, pulling at her leg.

"No Trunks. You would do the same thing Goten does, and don't give me any back talk about it!" Mom glared down at him, almost expecting the response. None came from Trunks.

"What's wrong boy, afraid I'll embarrass you?" Vegeta snorted.

"Well, that's part of it. Remember we try to hide our powers nowadays since people aren't used to things like flight and ki beams." Gohan said with a stare.

"Ha, whatever boy, I have other plans tomorrow," Vegeta laughed and turned down the hallway.

"You can stay at my house tonight Verto, that way we can leave directly from there," Gohan said, starting towards the door. I began to follow, only to screech to a halt by the scruff of my gi that was lifted into the air along with the rest of me.

"Hold it mister! Better pack some clean clothes!" Mom said as she had me three feet in the air by my gi. I sighed and nodded.

* * *

After packing up another polo shirt and a pair of jeans, Gohan and I flew off to his house.

"Hey Gohan, how are we gonna get Videl to stay quiet? She's met me before remember?" I asked in flight.

"I don't know, I mean its gonna be pretty obvious that I know the Briefs when you come in. I'm concerned that she will find out I'm Saiyaman and reveal it to everyone. Then I wont be able to go to school, they'll think I'm a freak," Gohan said looking down.

"Yeah you mentioned that. Gohan I've gone through what you are dealing with, it's called fitting in. I completely understand your reasons to hide your powers, I would too. I remember when I was in school, most didn't think I had half a brain, when in fact I was smarter than most of them were. Whenever I showed that I had some form of intelligence, people would look and treat me differently, like I wasn't welcome. You're a prime example, everyone expects a certain thing from each person and they treat you like a nerd I'm guessing?" A nod.

"But then your strength accidentally shows and they don't know what to make of you, right?" Another nod.

"Well my policy is to be yourself, if they can't handle it or are too ignorant to understand you, that's their problem, not yours," I finished.

Gohan sighed, "You're right, thanks. But I'm still going to try to keep my powers hidden for now, I keep them hidden to protect Mom and Goten's privacy. People don't want you to change too quickly, I ask that you do keep your powers hidden as well tomorrow. Unless absolutely necessary of course," Gohan requested.

"No problem," I said with a grin as we approached the Son house and landed.

"Well Verto, nice to see you again, we haven't seen you for a few months. The only extra mouth to feed seems to be Trunks all the time," Chichi greeted me.

"Nice to see you too Miss Chichi," I bowed my head slightly as I tried to decipher rather that was a nice or rude hello by her.

"So what brings you here?" Chichi asked.

"Mom, he's going to be my guest at school tomorrow, its mandatory and I knew that you wouldn't come. And its not a good idea to invite Piccolo, Vegeta, or the boys, and I'm sure Krillin is busy with his family. I don't know where Tien is, Bulma suggested that I bring him since he's already been to high school once before on his other world," Gohan explained.

"Well you could have called to check first, if it was mandatory I could have had Dad watch Goten and I could go with you. But I guess that's not going to happen," Chichi sounded disappointed. I knew why Gohan wouldn't want her there, I could just imagine all the frying pan hits that would happen, most of them probably not on Gohan.

"Sorry mom," Gohan said solemnly.

"Oh that's okay, Dad can barely handle little Goten anyway," Chichi said, turning back to a delicious smelling supper she was cooking. All of a sudden an orange blur came across the room and Gohan was promptly lying on the ground with the blur bouncing on top of him.

"Hi Gohan, Hi Gohan! How was school today? Can we train after dinner? Is Mom cooking dinner? Can I have some now? CAN I CAN I CAN I!" the little bundle of energy known as Goten went nuts on his brother.

"_See why I didn't want to bring him"_, Gohan thought at me.

"_Yep"._Then Goten turned and saw me. I joined Gohan on the floor, probably another dent as well after Goten tackled me next.

"Hi Verto! Can we train after dinner? Are you staying all night? Where's Trunks?" Goten's hyperactivity never ceased apparently.

"Goten get off him, shame on you! You shouldn't tackle your guests!" Chichi scolded.

"Sorry mom!" As Goten slowly got up off me, I checked myself over for bruises. "So why are you over here Verto, I mean without Trunks or Bulma?" Goten asked.

"Going to school with your brother tomorrow," I said.

"CAN I GO? CAN I CAN I CAN I GOHAN PLEASE!" Goten ran circles around Gohan's legs. _Good god._

"Sorry Goten, but if you go you might accidentally say or do something you shouldn't," Gohan said as Goten skidded to a stop and gave him the puppy eyes.

"No I won't Gohan! I'll be good!" Goten pleaded.

"No Goten, remember your visiting Trunks tomorrow with me. You two can play while Bulma is attending her conference," Chichi called from the stove.

"Not fair," Goten pouted.

"Dinner's ready!" That frown on Goten's face vanished at the mention of food and the tornado was hyper again.

Even though I had not had many of Chichi's meals, they seemed to be similar, absolutely delicious every time. Her cooking put a lot of other meals to shame, even good ones.

"Is there anything I need to be aware about tomorrow Gohan?" I asked between spoonfuls.

"Oh not really," Gohan said, but then reverted a thought to me, "_I'll tell ya on the way in the morning, no big deal, but mom would have a cow"_.

I considered his words for a minute since we were in the middle of a meal, "_Why have a cow when she has pigs instead_?" I thought at him, grinning slightly.

"_I'll get you for that"_.

After finishing off dinner, Chichi demanded we all hit the hay early. I didn't dare argue anyway, I'd probably have to run from the skillet of terror. Like last time, I received a spot on the couch, not that I minded. I drifted off to the memories of me and Trunks' little prank and what could have happened to Videl.

**Power levels**

**Vegeta: 55,000,000, SS: 185,000,000, SS2: 325,000,000**

**Cops: 25-40(varies, like it matters though)**

**Gohan: 52,000,000, SS: 178,000,000, SS2: 315,000,000**

**Videl: 250**


	21. Guests

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 20: Guests**

I didn't wake up in a normal way. Though been jolted awake by a hyperactive demi-Saiyan might be considered normal.

"Get up! Get up! Mom won't let me eat until you get up!" Goten wailed.

"Okay okay I'm up!" I said, exasperated already.

"Gohan!" Goten shouted and ran up the stairs. Gohan emerged a few minutes later, groaning at the day ahead of him. Going upstairs to clean up a little, I quickly realized a huge problem.

"Hey Gohan, these are blue jeans. My tail is going to show," I said, panicking a little.

"Hmm, maybe if you hold it higher on your waist, they will just think its a belt or something. I doubt many people will notice as long as you don't unravel it," Gohan said, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Oh so you'll provide enough distractions to take attention away from me then?" I chuckled as he frowned back.

"Come on boys, hurry and brush those teeth so you can get breakfast and get going!" I heard Chichi call up to us. Gohan and I brushed quickly, our stomachs conducting action for the promise of food.

"Dig in boys!" Chichi said as we entered, dressed for the school day. On the table were four plates stacked with pancakes, three more with bacon and three with scrambled eggs.

"Chichi I love you," I said, mouth watering at the sight.

"No thanks, I have a husband," Chichi smirked slightly, "It's rare to get such a compliment out of a meal, other than how good it was."

"Is it ever bad?" I asked, grinning.

"Come to think of it, I don't recall the last time I cooked a bad meal. I know Goku never said any meal was bad, but then it was usually gone before he was capable of giving an answer," she sighed slightly at the memory.

"So Gohan, is Videl bringing her Dad?" I asked between pancake bites. Judging by the grimace that Gohan gave me, I wasn't supposed to say that.

"Who's Videl?" Chichi asked.

"A girl at school, nice and all, but kind of mean and suspicious towards me. She fights crime too, most bank robbers run when they see her, even the armed and dangerous. I help her out as Saiyaman but she is really trying to find out my identity," Gohan said, shoving more bacon into his mouth.

"A girl huh?" Chichi had stars and hearts forming in her eyes, "Your girlfriend Gohan?"

"No! It's not that I like her, it's just I don't want to see her get hurt," Gohan denied. I smiled slightly at the scene, wondering where Krillin was so he could give Gohan a ton of crap. However, I decided that I didn't need him, I could handle that myself.

"Aw, don't worry Gohan, I'm sure she'll go out with you. Just ask away," I said, unable to resist.

"SHUT UP!" Gohan said, exasperated.

"That's enough boys. You two better get going now, we don't want you to be late," Chichi said, pointing to the door. Exiting the Son home, Gohan stood on the grass for a minute.

"NIMBUS!" he shouted. The yellow cloud wasted no time in arriving at Gohan's feet as he slipped his backpack around his shoulder.

"Climb on!" Gohan said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Gohan, but it won't let you ride unless your pure of heart right? I don't think I qualify in that department, even I have evil thoughts and a love for pulling pranks. I don't think it'll let me ride, I'll just fly," I said.

"Well let's find out, climb on!" Gohan urged me on. I jumped onto the yellow cloud, which didn't hold a feather and dropped me to the ground.

"And I'm not surprised," I said, lifting back in the air.

"I knew it wouldn't hold you, that's for giving me the girlfriend hell," Gohan cackled and jumped on with no problem, "Let's go!"

The flight to Satan City was pretty quiet, until the last few minutes.

"Hey Gohan, you never answered me, is Videl bringing her Dad today?" I asked again.

"I hope not, but I never hear anything else about Videl's family except her Dad so it's probably him. Don't say anything, please!" Gohan practically begged me.

"I heard most of the story Gohan and I gotta tell ya, I think I like him about as much as Vegeta does. I'm sure you realize that I don't really like the idea of him taking credit for what you did for everybody on this planet. If he is there, so long as he keeps his trap shut, I won't do or say anything, how's that?" I asked with a small sneer.

"Guess that will have to do," Gohan said, grinning slightly.

"It's not that I would want to embarrass you or anything Gohan. It's just I'm not really big on this keep secrets from everyone routine, especially when they all flock to that buffoon when all he did was hide behind rocks, right?" I scuffed at the idea of Satan actually doing something brave. Gohan nodded and we continued our flight in silence.

* * *

Up ahead I saw the outskirts of Satan City, and Gohan started to descend. I followed and we landed right on the outer edge and began walking towards Orange Star High. Then I heard the only sound that could have ruined the morning or possibly the day for Gohan while I was with him. It couldn't be anything else but a bank alarm that was ringing like crazy.

"Oh great, just what we needed!" Gohan said, ducking into an alley and hitting the button on his wristwatch. The Saiyaman outfit emerged over him, helmet in all.

"Stay here, I'll go stop the crooks!" Gohan said, starting up his ridiculous poses and his horrible sounding voice.

"Oh brother!" I said, smacking myself in the head, "Just point me in the general direction of the school and catch up later," I said, mentally counting how many more times I might have to see this terrible sight.

"That way son!" Gohan pointed with a bright smile and in a ridiculous tone. Then Gohan was gone, flying through the air toward whatever crime had taken place. I walked at a decent pace, but not in any real hurry, we still had an hour to get there. I began to hear an engine of some kind in the distance, close to where Gohan's ki was, and then I felt Videl's low ki signal close in on him.

_Great, just great, now she'll be even more suspicious when I show up today. That'll tie Gohan in with the Briefs, basically proving he's Saiyaman with what happened yesterday, but then again maybe she'll keep quiet if she learns of it_._Wait, why do I give a shit? She's going to figure it out anyway. _I continued the walk past a mini-mall when the first thing I saw was a Mr. Satan official fan club building at on the end. I wanted to gag going past it, and basically did. All I could see was Mr. Satan things inside, a few Cells, most covered in blood. Then I saw a sign that looked promising: "Mr. Satan will be here from 9 to 11 am signing autographs!"

_Thank God, or whoever is running the show today_. I walked on by feeling much better. About five minutes after the mini-mall, Gohan rushed back towards my direction and ducked behind an alley again to change back.

"So what did I miss?" I asked.

"Another bunch of crooks, I showed up and was chasing them down when Videl showed up and challenged me to a fight. Then one of the crooks pulled an officer's hand gun and grabbed a hostage. I made short work of him anyway," Gohan explained, probably doing poses in his head.

"Well as long as she didn't follow you or something," I said, letting my head hang a little at Gohan's mishap.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Above us, was a yellow helicopter, descending.

"Oh no, I must have forgotten to look back behind me. I hope she didn't see me change back," Gohan panicked.

"I doubt it, but she's smart enough to put two and two together Gohan. Don't count your chickens before they hatch," I said, shaking my head. Videl landed in the chopper, and her eyes darted right away at Gohan, then in astonishment at me.

"Hey Gohan, did you see Saiyaman fly by here? I was trailing him and he vanished on me?" Videl asked.

Gohan didn't seem to know what to say, "Umm, no I didn't see him. I just came back from a restroom."

_Argh, clueless_, "I saw him fly over and disappear in the distance over there," I said, pointing to nowhere in particular.

"Oh okay. So Gohan, I didn't know you knew the Briefs," Videl said, that suspicious glint in her eye. Gohan's frown fell in tune with mine, _I hate being right._

"Yeah I've known Bulma since I was five. She was a good friend of my Dad's when he was that young," Gohan said, grin ever present.

"Really? That's good to know. So did you bring your Dad for your guest today?" she pressed.

"No..." Gohan seemed to shut down.

"I'm his guest today Videl, his little brother wasn't feeling up to it today so I met him here," I lied real fast.

She seemed to accept that, "You guys want a lift?" Videl asked. At least he didn't say no this time.

* * *

The chopper ride was short and silent, nothing really was said between any of us, until Gohan just had to ask.

"Hey Videl, who did you bring today?"

"Well I invited my dad, but he said his schedule was pretty tight today. Knowing him like I do, he's probably already made a huge display of everything, so he may or may not show," Videl hung her head a little. _Not, not, not! Please not!_ No more words were said after that as we descended upon Orange Star High. There was a pack of students below, waiting for Videl to land. When she did, they rushed the doors, giving us a tad bit of trouble. It was more of a problem not to hurt someone while trying to get out. Videl jumped out and the mob rushed to her instead, giving me and Gohan the chance to slip by unnoticed.

"Nerd boy getting rides now? What's next?" I heard a very arrogant voice say. Gohan turned to face a blond haired muscle boy, who was probably known as the world's dumbest jock by the looks of him.

"Hi Sharpner!" Gohan said cheerfully, but I knew that he probably didn't like this one.

"So Brains, who'd you bring?" Sharpner asked, sneering all the way.

"A friend of mine, Verto," Gohan said, gesturing to me. The jock looked me up and down,

"So what's so great about this tiny runt? My six year old brother could probably beat him in arm wrestling, and what the heck kinda name is Verto?" Anger twitched inside of me as Gohan was taken aback by that remark. Gohan's telepathic reminder not to do anything rash was about all that held me back at the moment.

"And Sharpner is the greatest thing in the dictionary of names?" I snorted.

Sharpner seemed unaffected, "Does he think he's a know-it-all too?"

"Hey Blondie, why don't you go jump off a cliff? Or better yet since you're probably concerned, lift weights until your arms fall off. Either way, get your punk ass out of my fuckin sight!" I said coldly. The jock looked slightly surprised, but then angered.

"Better keep your friend out of trouble Gohan, wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him!" Sharpner said with an all but totally threatening tone.

"I'm waiting, do your worst," I said, turning my back. Sharpner though just boiled off, muttering about bratty kids.

"That could have gone better," Gohan said.

"Yeah well he deserves it I'll bet," I said, wondering how this day got off to such a rotten start. It would only get worse.

* * *

The first bell rang and Gohan motioned for me to follow him inside. The halls were pretty much the standard for a high school, crowded. Since people had to bring guests, it was twice as bad. Gohan led me up to his classroom, which looked more like a forum type of setting. All of the seating spots had two chairs as well, one for guests I assumed. All except Videl's, which struck me as odd, but I also didn't mind if her Dad didn't show. The less I'd have to see of that moron the better. My tail twitched and wanted free, but I kept it wrapped up like a belt, with a weird looking knot in the back, something my shirt barely covered. Gohan's seat was on the end of the fourth row up the stairs, out of five rows. There was a rather pretty blond sitting there already, next to a mirror image of herself, only about a foot and a half taller.

"Hi Gohan!" She said, batting her eyes a little.

"Uh…Hi. Erasa," Gohan said nervously, patented Son confusion was displayed. I was starting to wonder if this was a Saiyan trait, or just something Goku developed when he hit his head as a kid.

"Who's your little friend?" Erasa asked, giving me the lookdown next.

"Oh this is Verto, my little brother couldn't make it so I brought one of his friends," Gohan explained quickly.

"He's a cutie too, is he smart like you?" Erasa asked.

"I manage," I said, sitting down next to her where Gohan directed, he was obviously nervous about sitting next to Erasa. Right after I sat down though, I was right back up as I had just been the victim of a pinching attack. Then she noticed something I was hoping she would miss.

"Is that a fur belt? It's been awhile since I have seen one of these, they're so soft! And this one is really soft, and warm!" Erasa said, running her hand over my wrapped tail like she would pet a cat. At once my body no longer responded to anything, except the wonderful feelings coming from my tail. I felt myself ready to give off a very animalistic noise at any moment. The tail petting was great, and it was preparing to squirm out from my waist whether I allowed it or not, fortunately Gohan stopped her by pointing out that Videl had just come in.

"_Thanks, I don't think she would have stopped_,_until she screamed__that is,"_ I thought to Gohan as she removed her hand. Videl walked up on our left and passed behind Gohan and me. She stopped momentarily behind me, but only for a second.

"Hey Erasa," Videl said, going on past to her seat. As Erasa introduced her mother officially to Gohan and Videl, I took a gander around the room, seeing the rest of the students present along with their respective guests, mostly adults. Then the blond haired goon made his presence felt again, and behind him was a blond haired man in a business suit, carrying a briefcase.

"Hello Videl. I'd like you to meet my father, he's a lawyer," Sharpner said proudly.

"Hey Gohan, want to see if I can get the lawyer to sue us for permanent brain damage to his son?" I asked in a low voice. Gohan didn't reply, just gave me that "I hope you don't" look. I just smirked slightly and watched as the instructor came in and stood at the front desk.

"Attention class, I see many of you have guests today. We will go around the room, stand and introduce your guest and what they do, or like to do," the teacher said, starting in the front row.

"So what do you want me to say?" Gohan asked while the front row was going.

"Just say I like martial arts or sports or something, I can tell this day is going to be a long one for both of us. I'd love to blast that Sharpner in two, such a shame he's not an enemy or I would have awhile ago," I said, chuckling a bit. After a few minutes the turn rounded to Erasa, skipping Videl completely, which told me that Mr. Satan might indeed show up, but perhaps not for awhile. After Erasa introduced her mom, Gohan stood and cleared his throat.

"This is Verto Briefs, Verto here likes football and martial arts," Gohan said, gesturing for me to stand. I stood up, observed the faces gaze at me, and more specifically the "brown belt" and then sat down.

"Martial Arts huh? I bet you can't even get above beginner, those scrawny arms won't do much ya know! You better beef them up first!" Sharpner mocked, prompting the class to chuckle a little. "And a Briefs huh, why don't you tell that muscle freak...was it Vegeta, that he should leave his light show tricks at home and leave the press alone. How could the benevolent Bulma Briefs marry someone like that?" I shifted to a death like gaze ala Vegeta and pointed it straight at the blond idiot, my blood starting to boil as he mocked the prince of our race. The prince thing didn't matter as much as the fact that he was my mentor.

"_Verto don't do anything, he just doesn't know any better_," I heard Gohan's voice in my head. Videl saved me the trouble of beating him lifeless though.

"Hey Sharpner, cut out the macho "I'm better than everybody" act. I bet the kid would kick the living crap out of you in about three seconds, either that or I will," Videl turned in her chair toward him. I could sense Sharpner's low ki fill with slight fear when Videl turned her wrath to him. The rest of the guests were introduced, and then a loud beep filled the air, preceding an announcement.

"Attention students and staff, there will be a special assembly during the last three hours of school today! Attendance is required in the field house gym!"

"Special assembly?" I heard Gohan say.

"Yeah! I heard Mr. Satan is going to give a martial arts demonstration and then a speech, and then I think a free lesson to those that want one," Erasa said, a little excited.

"Figures," Videl muttered, turning her head to see the matching grimaces on both Gohan and myself.

"_Oh great_," Gohan and I thought at each other at the same time.

"You two don't seem very excited to hear my Dad is coming, what's with that?" Videl asked, her suspicious eyes staring us down.

"Oh yeah we think it's great!" Gohan said, a little more enthusiastic. I didn't respond to it though, Mr. Satan giving a demonstration was not my idea of fun. The teacher began to lecture math, but the level of it was ungodly easy, basic pre-algebra. I could tell Gohan was way up in the math levels too, he sort of slumped down and propped his head on his hand and elbow. In the middle of the lecture, Videl's watched beeped. I glanced at Gohan, who noticed right away.

"Go ahead Chief," Videl said into her watch.

"Videl, the Red shark gang has kidnapped the mayor and the leader is threatening to blow up half the city unless Mr. Satan comes down to fight him. We haven't been able to contact your father, can you come help us?" the Chief asked.

"On my way," Videl said, getting up and shooting a look at Gohan and myself, "Hey Gohan, can I borrow him for this?" Videl asked. The looks and gazes shifted right away to me, Gohan was confused.

"_I sort of helped her the first day I was here. She knows that I'm a little strong, but that was before my training in the time chamber, and you won't have__to come as Saiyaman for this one_," I explained through my thoughts.

"Sure I'll give ya a hand if you really need me," I said, trying to act thrilled.

Sharpner had a priceless look of shock on his face, "What good is the kid going to do you Videl? This is the Red shark gang were talking about. Even if he knew as advanced martial arts as you do, he will only get in the way!" Sharpner declared.

"What's wrong doofus? Upset she didn't ask you?" I grinned.

"You're just gonna get hurt wimp!"

"Stuff it Blondie!" Videl said, motioning for me to follow her. I brushed past the seats and ran down the stairs after her, at least this would be more entertaining then Gohan's class. I ran slowly after Videl, who was running full sprint toward the door. Once outside, she tossed down a capsule and revealed her helicopter.

"Let's go!" she shouted as I climbed in and she lifted off.

* * *

"Tell me something, does Gohan study martial arts too?" Videl asked._Well, now she turns to other sources for information_.

"He does a little, not anymore though. He doesn't have quite the love for it like his father did, his mother makes him study a lot now," I said, hoping she would buy that.

"I've been meaning to ask him why Son Goku, his dad, couldn't come today. Do you know why?" Videl asked. _Oh boy_.

"Gohan hasn't seen his father for seven years, and I've never met him myself so I'm not the one to ask," I said, hoping again that it would do. Surprisingly it did, only because we had arrived at what must have been City Hall with all the cops around it. Landing right in front of the hall and in full view of the gang, Videl jumped out of the chopper and set her sights on a big guy in a red shirt, his arm wrapped around some old guy.

"Videl! Thank goodness!" the old fart said, I assumed he must have been the mayor.

"I challenge the greatest fighter in the world and I get his little girl instead? The great Hercule Satan has turned cowardly over these years eh?" the big guy said, he must have been the leader. I hopped out next, causing most of the gang that was around in the windows and bushes start to laugh loudly.

"She brings a kid as backup? What's wrong Videl, get stuck babysitting?" one crony laughed as I maneuvered around the chopper to look over the situation.

"So how fast do you want them down?" I asked Videl.

She looked at me funny, "Uh...fast as you can works," She obviously did not know how to answer that. I sprang into the air and zipped from left to right, taking out gang members as I went, but only knocking them out. The leader stepped out to fight Videl, who was trying to watch me. He caught her off guard and knocked her down with a few hard punches. I turned back to him, dropping another goon on the ground.

"What kid? You think you can take me, go ahead and try you little shri-OOWWW!" he cringed at the last word because Videl had just kicked him down low where you never want to be kicked. As he bent over, Videl literally kicked him in the ass, he spun and she pummeled him in his stomach and his head. He began to tire very quickly from her quick and hard blows. She finally reeled back, jumped up and kicked him in the head. As he bent back she spun like a tornado and caught him with a sharp elbow in the chest. He went down, and stayed there. Videl caught her breath and stood back up, giving me a thumbs up.

"Boss! Your dead girl!" I heard a goon say. I looked around to spot him past where Videl was, and he had a big rocket launcher armed and ready. He fired just as I lifted to get him, so I changed course and landed between the bazooka rocket and Videl, and had to let the rocket hit me. The only thing the rocket did was explode in front of me and leave a nasty smell, and a lot of smoke. I heard Videl gasp behind me, and then sounded like she was about to cry, as she could not see me yet.

"Hey, I was trying to look decent and you tore my shirt!" I shouted, powering up slightly and letting my aura clear the smoke. Then everyone's jaw plummeted. Mostly the goon who shot the rocket. I rushed him and grabbed his weapon, breaking it neatly in two with ease before sending the little twerp packing for jail. Videl ran over and kneeled down, looking me over like she really was babysitting and I had just suffered a bad accident.

"You took that rocket dead on and you don't look hurt at all. Your clothes are barely dirty!" She said in shock with her hands on my shoulders.

"I'm fine Videl, I'm tougher than I look if you recall," I said.

"Oh come on, that kind of stuff doesn't happen around here! Does Gohan know about this? Can he do it himself? Does that mean he could be..." She stopped herself in her tirade of questions. _Oh boy, I think she just figured it out_. "Verto?" she whispered, "Is Gohan the Great Saiyaman, or the Gold fighter for that matter?" she asked, holding my shoulders tightly.

"That is something you should ask him, not me, and do you think I would reveal that to you if he were," I said, probably making it clear as water now for her that Gohan was Saiyaman. She looked down for a minute, and then embraced me in a surprising hug.

"Thanks anyway, for saving my butt. I won't bug you anymore, I owe you that at least," she said, letting go and standing back up. She beckoned me to climb back into the helicopter and head back to the school.

When we made it back to the classroom, everyone stood in awe, except for Gohan that is, he was scowling at me a little. Then I saw why, the TV was just finishing telecast the interview with the chief of police, who was describing the events that took place at City hall.

"So there you have it folks, Videl Satan and her amazing young sidekick wrapped up the Red shark Gang, and saved the mayor's life. Back to the newsroom," the reporter finished as the instructor flipped off the TV. The class was silent, most of them staring at me.

Videl frowned at the sight, "What is your problem? So the kid knows some martial arts just like I do, leave him be!" she screeched, causing everyone's ears to become damaged, mostly mine. _Heh, she calls that martial arts. Close enough I guess. _She went back up the stairs toward her row, and I quickly followed. When I sat back down next to Gohan, I could sense slight anger and disappointment in his ki.

"_You call that restraint?"_ he shouted at me through his thoughts, causing me to wince a little.

"_Sorry Gohan, but it was__necessary, they fired a damn rocket at her! You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing. You know she would have been hurt had I not been there_," I responded with a slight glare.

Gohan surrendered the argument to me, "_You're right, thanks, I guess this way she can't assume I am Saiyaman_."

I snorted slightly, "_Actually, she suspects it pretty well. __She tried getting that information from me, I don't think she knows for sure, yet. But Saiyaman not showing up this time gave off a pretty good hint_."

Gohan mentally hit himself, "_Oh well_, _I'll just need to be more careful_." As if disaster had to strike at bad times, Erasa passed a note from Videl that read: to Gohan. I passed it back to him and he opened it, reading it secretly. I saw his face turn slightly downward and then he glanced past me at Videl, full of slight sadness. Then he grinned slightly and nodded, putting a finger to his mouth. She gasped but then closed her mouth and nodded. Erasa and her mother were oblivious to it all, watching the teacher begin a lecture on biology.

Videl opened her notebook back up and joined the listening audience, "_What did that note say Gohan_," I thought at him.

"_She just asked if I was Saiyaman_,_and if she could meet me after school is through today. Since she's so close to figuring it out, I've decided it wouldn't hurt for her to know, I've been a bit careless trying to conceal that identity. Plus if I'm fighting crime with her all the time she has the right to know anyway. Maybe I can make a deal with her if she'll keep my secret safe."_

"_About time you realized you can't hide from it forever_," I said, smiling and turning back to the front in my chair.


	22. Demonstration

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 21: Demonstration**

About thirty minutes after Videl and I got back, the teacher dismissed us to go to gym.

"Finally a stretch, I've forgotten how long and boring class can be," I said to Gohan as he stood up.

"Yeah, well it was worse at home sometimes when I barely saw the light of day. Mom insisted on studying almost all day everyday," Gohan laughed slightly.

"So what are we doing today in gym Gohan?" I asked.

"Baseball, I think," he said, scratching his head.

"That's one I haven't played in a long time, maybe I'll knock one out of the park!" I said with a grin.

"Oh please don't, you've showed enough of your strength today!" Gohan pleaded like I had him on blackmail.

"I said out of the park, not out of the city," I said with an evil laugh. I followed Gohan and the rest of the class to the gym area where a tall and muscle bound man awaited us.

"Class and guests, we will be playing baseball today! There are boxes of gym clothes for the guests in each respective locker room. There are many blue guest shirts and shorts of all sizes. Please put those on and store your regular clothes in a locker and meet back out here. Students you will find an orange shirt in your lockers today, put those on as well as your gym clothes. If you haven't figured it out, the teams will be students versus guests," the coach announced, pointing out boys and girls locker rooms. I followed Gohan into the locker room and sure enough there were boxes full of clothes of random sizes. I took a small shirt and a dark brown pair of shorts and made my way to a far corner of the locker room where no one would see me. Then I undressed and let my tail unravel for a nice long stretch. Using a very weak energy beam, I sliced a small hole in the back of the shorts for my tail to slip through. Fortunately the color for the shorts matched my tail very well, so no one would notice it at all. Throwing my other clothes in a locker, I came back out to the gym, where most of the students were waiting on the guests. I sat back down next to Gohan, who looked slightly amused.

"Nice, I was wondering how you were going to hide that this time," he laughed a little, grabbing at my waist.

"I improvised," I grinned, knocking his hand away. _Well so far things haven't been so bad, this is almost bearable._

"Ladies and gentleman! Good news, the guests will have another player, one of our special guests today… MR. SATAN!"

_You gotta be fuckin kidding me! _Whatever smile I had on my face was gone in a flash. The students sure didn't mind that the champ was going to be there, even on the opposite team, though Videl looked indifferent about it. Then the goof himself walked in the door. Had I not been a powerful Saiyan, and a billion times stronger then him, I might have been impressed. Satan's afro seemed to poof out even more then I thought it did. He even had a blue shirt on as well, only it said World Champ on it.

"Howdy class, I hope you're ready for a pounding from your guest team! Muhahahaha!" Satan roared. There were slight cheers from the class, more so from the guests.

"Guest team come with me and I'll assign you a position on the field!" he roared again, taking a place on the far side of the gym.

"Students come here please. Team captains are Mr. Satan for the guest team, the students must decide on a captain. We have another special guest to be umpire who will arrive when we take the field!" the coach announced.

"Good luck Gohan, you're going to need it!" I laughed wickedly. It was the only thing I could do to turn a negative into a positive, I didn't want to be anywhere near goofiness maximus. Gohan looked slightly worried at that remark. I slowly walked over to Mr. Satan, who was going on about his last fight.

"And I chopped him in the neck and he was out for a whole week! Uh, anyway, I'll need some names, let's start with you small fry!" he pointed to me.

I frowned, "It's Verto, not small fry," I growled and sat on a bench.

"Right, You'll play uhhh, darn kid you sure are small! How about you just bat for me okay? You can go eighth in the rotation and just be a hitter. We don't want that ball to hit ya in the head! How's that sound?" Satan gave me a classic smile meant to keep a child happy. The level on which it failed bordered on epic.

"Whatever," I groaned as I closed my eyes and leaned back, very Vegeta like. I had considered pulling a Goten and beg for it just for some sort of excitement, but doing that would mean reverting to a childhood state I hadn't been in for a very long time. Not only that, it would give the big idiot the wrong idea, not that he didn't already have one. Hercule passed out assignments to the others, even though some were just backups to other positions. He, of course, put himself at pitcher and first to bat. On the other side of the gym, it was clear Videl and Sharpner were arguing over who was going to be captain. It appeared that they settled on co-captains after a few minutes. Satan led our great team outside and towards the field, and I trailed behind, scowling all the way.

* * *

I sat in the visitor's dugout with the rest of the guests, my frown increasing in intensity every minute. The coach had Satan, Videl and Sharpner out for a coin toss to determine who was going to bat first. I didn't think it mattered if they had a determined home and away team, but I also didn't care to indulge. It appeared that Sharpner and Videl were working on strategy, since they were up against the world champ. _As if it matters._

Since we were the visiting team, Satan got to call it, "Heads!" It came up tails, and he actually came up with an excuse for it! Something about the dirt not being leveled properly, whatever it was, I was too busy trying to salvage my own brain from the poison of his presence. Videl chose to take the field first, which was basically Satan's plan of batting first. The goof grabbed a helmet, though it could barely hold his afro, grabbed a bat and went straight to the plate, barely bothering to warm-up.

"My I introduce the umpire now, currently playing center field for the Satan City Heroes, Bandit!" Thunderous applause from both sides, I didn't even know who it was. Then Bandit walked through, and it was Yamcha.

"Hello class and guests, I'm your umpire today, I hope you all are ready to play ball!" Loud roars again, obviously Yamcha was quite the player. "Orange Star Students may take the field now...is that you Gohan?" Yamcha asked loudly, getting a second look.

"Yeah its me," Gohan said.

"Chichi finally let you out of the house huh kid? Well good luck to ya, though I doubt you'll need it," Yamcha waved as Gohan made his way to right field. Everyone was giving Gohan that same stunned look now that another star he knew showed up.

"He was a friend of my dad's," I heard him say to those who asked. Videl took the mound first, warming up to pitch to her father.

"Ready for a strike Dad?" she said with a grin.

"Throw your best ball little girl!" Satan challenged. She did, and Satan swung and missed big time, the ball sailed about a foot from where he swung. Last I checked, that was pathetic. Satan shrugged it off and waited for the next ball, and it had the same result.

"Okay Videl, time to stop fooling around, next one is a homer!" Satan declared.

"You wish Dad!" she shouted as she threw quite the fastball. Satan swung, but when he knew he missed by a mile, he quickly held his shoulder like it hurt bad.

"Oh just an arm cramp, nice ball Videl," Satan said, going back to the box. Everyone but a select few showed concern for Hercule, who I could tell was faking just to save face. That's when Yamcha noticed me as well, but didn't say anything, just sort of waved. I nodded and sat back to watch the rest of the inning. Sharpner came out to replace Videl at pitcher after the next two batters went, one out and one hit onto base. He struck the next one out and my team took the field. What I was interested in is what Gohan would do when he was up, which lucky for me, he was third batter. He sure didn't seem happy about it, but if he didn't want me to give him endless shit, he was going to participate for real. Satan threw some awfully bad pitches and had walked two people already when Gohan came up to bat. Satan chuckled a little when he walked up.

"Hope your ready to say good night skinny kid!" he gloated. Behind the plate, Yamcha was already pulling out another ball.

"Knock it out of the park Gohan!" Videl cheered, prompting her team to do it as well. I may have been on the other team, but I wanted Gohan to sail that ball too. Gohan however wasn't sure if he should.

"Come on nerd boy, you can do it!" Sharpner yelled out. Gohan frowned at the mention of Nerd boy, but became more determined and turned back to Satan, bat cocked and ready. _About time, this should pour some salt into the fraud's wounds. _Satan chuckled a little more, then cranked up and threw his best pitch so far, right in the zone. Gohan met it with the bat with a light swing, and the ball zoomed way out of the park with a loud crack as the bat broke in two. The ball was more than gone from the park, it had to be gone from the zip code. Lots of gasps from my side of the field, a few from Gohan's class. Yamcha signaled home run and Gohan circled the bases with the two other runners, making the score 3 to 0 students. Satan couldn't believe it, but said nothing. Gohan's class was quite surprised as well, but gave him a round of high fives and pats on the back, and for the first time, Gohan actually looked happy at school and around his classmates.

"_You see how much better you feel now_," I thought at him.

"_Yeah I thought they were going to treat me horrible if I played too well and showed my strength like that_," he thought back, sounded a little happier.

"_Well, sending it out of the park isn't that much of a strength meter to go by. Big home run sluggers do it a lot. However, be glad there are no fans today, that ball went much further than that," _I replied as he cringed. After Gohan's team started to chant his name, he sat down with a bigger smile on his face. Seeing Gohan not as tense about school was a blessing.

* * *

Mr. Satan stopped messing around and struck the next three out. Sharpner pitched for Gohan's team again and threw a strike out sweep. Satan followed through with another strike out. The score remained three to nothing and finally the third inning came. To think I was actually excited to hit a nylon ball was amazing, but since I was the first batter, I was kind of antsy for it. Yamcha's hand went to his pocket again when he saw me come out, though I disregarded the helmet. Sharpner remained hot and I got up there pretty quickly. Sharpner grinned slightly, probably waiting for this chance to try to show me up.

"SON! Don't you need a helmet? Getting hit in the head by the ball isn't fun!" Satan called out. I stopped and turned back to him as he walked up, holding out said helmet with a really annoying grin on his face.

"Keep the helmet for your own thick skull. The ball won't be anywhere near my head," I growled in a low voice, holding a bat that was nearly my height. Satan wasn't sure how to respond and simply walked back, scratching his head.

"Ready shorty?" Sharpner called out.

"Bring it on wonder jock," I said in a cold voice, pulling the bat back. He fired his fastball at me, obviously thinking himself wonderful to go all out on a kid. I watched the ball come at me at an extremely slow rate to my focus. I swung the bat just as slowly to meet the ball. The ball went sailing just as it connected, and the bat splintered apart. Jaws dropped instantly as I dropped the bat handle and jogged around the bases. The silence made me feel alienated a bit, though my team was at least cheering a little.

"That was for you Blondie!" I shouted and pointed at Sharpner, who couldn't quite believe what just happened.

Satan looked to be in terminal shock, but gave me a big pat on the back when I came back around, "Way to go small fry!" _Well at least he gave me some creditability, unlike others present_. The rest of the game was a blowout, my team only scored when I was up. Gohan's team did really well due to Satan's crappy pitching, supposedly another arm cramp. The final score was fifteen to three, and I banged home runs in every time, as did Gohan. Right at the end of the game, we sensed Vegeta's high power level coming close to us, and landing almost in plain view before walking up by the gate, dressed in his usual spandex training outfit. Gohan noticed him first, but unfortunately Videl did too. Since everyone was on the field shaking hands after the game, I managed to cut Videl off as she began stomping Vegeta's way, who was giving off his trademark smirk.

"Don't even think about it Videl, he's actually not that bad of a guy if you get past his hard feelings. You know those reporters shouldn't have said those things," I warned, feeling guilty about what me and Trunks had done. Noting that a future wish to the dragon might need to be used.

"Okay, for you I won't. I still don't like that jerk though," Videl said, giving Vegeta the stare down.

"Come here boy! The woman wanted you to have these for lunch!" he shouted and tossed two capsules to me, "So what is the coward doing here?" Vegeta said, referring to Satan.

"It's guest day and he's giving a martial arts demonstration after lunch period," Yamcha said, coming up.

"You're here too huh? Well if its a demonstration, perhaps I should stick around and see if I can learn something. You can have multiple guests right, spawn of Kakarot?" Vegeta resumed his smirk.

Gohan shrugged and gave up, "Yeah I think you can."

"Good, consider me another guest," Vegeta said, walking onto the field._This should be good_, I thought to myself.

* * *

Once we changed clothes again, another bell rang, signaling lunch hour according to Gohan. He led Vegeta and I to the lunchroom, Yamcha left as he was only there for the umpire thing. Hell I wanted to leave now that Vegeta had showed. Satan was one thing, at least his scenes didn't involve anyone blowing up. Unfortunately a lot of people recognized Vegeta from yesterday's news events, but they strayed wisely away from him, clearing the hallway nicely. Some of the girls whistled until they saw his face, and then they cowered in fear, not that I blamed them. It didn't help a whole lot when Vegeta decided to comment on how crappy the school looked and how it's weakling students barely held a candle to pond scum, but nobody really walked up to bother him about it. The lunchroom was pretty good size for a high school, and there was a buffet type line in the back. Gohan led us to a far corner, away from most of the crowd and opened the capsules.

Inside there were only a sandwich each, "Man this isn't gonna keep me full until dinner," he said. I shrugged and picked up the sandwich, right away noticing that it weighed about a hundred pounds. Pulling up the top slice of bread, I saw a lot of different foods packed inside, everything from ham to eggs to potatoes and apples.

"Mom you're a genius," I said aloud, taking a first bite into the packed sandwich.

Vegeta pulled out another capsule and dug into a sandwich of his own, "That's one reason I mated with her," he said, smirking slightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Videl staring in our direction, that extra suspicious glint in her eye. She got up and came in our general direction, keeping her eyes locked on Vegeta the entire time.

"_Uh oh,_" I thought to Gohan. He put down his half sandwich and looked up, only to panic slightly.

"What's wrong brat? You afraid that little banshee is going to do something? Let her, she won't do a damn thing. Oh I get it, you're hot on her aren't you, getting your mate picked out already huh?" Vegeta laughed. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at that comment as Gohan's cheeks turned red. Videl got closer and Gohan shifted a little more in his seat, as if to jump to protect her from Vegeta at any second. She got to the table, hands on her hips and gave Vegeta a death glare that even he could be proud of. All activity in the room abruptly stopped and shifted attention to our table. All of the teachers, the students, the lunch staff, everyone.

"Can I do something for you girl?" Vegeta asked, not even shifting his eyes as he munched his sandwich.

"I can think of a few things, but your nephew saved my butt this morning. So I suppose I should thank you for training him so well, at least he has some regard to life," Videl said sharply. Vegeta stopped munching and looked up at her, before breaking out into a serious fit of laughter.

"Muhahahaha! Oh you've got spunk girl, not a bad choice of a mate for Kakarot's brat, not bad at all. As far as the boy's training, I trained him the way he should be trained, what he does with it is his choice. Oh and do tell your coward father I'm looking forward to a meeting this afternoon," Vegeta cackled and turned back to the remains of his meal. Once his laughter ended, I could hear cricket's chirping a mile away. Videl was as red as a tomato, ready to blow any second, and nearby students started to shuffle to get away from her.

"Was there something else girl?" Vegeta asked, only darkening the redness in Videl's face.

"Hey Videl, don't, he's like this to everyone. Just calm down, you could only hurt yourself," I said, standing up and in her way. She shifted her gaze down to me, I could see a slight tear in her eye.

She softened her anger though, and put a hand back to my shoulder, "Okay kid, after all you saved my ass once already today." She calmed herself and the blood drained away from her face as she stormed off.

"That was close," Gohan said, wiping his brow.

"Afraid of your mate already? You're just like Kakarot, scared of his own mate. Of course your banshee mother is something to be frightened of! I swear she's part human and part wild boar!" Vegeta mocked Gohan while finishing off his meal. Gohan didn't really answer that, just scowled slightly at Vegeta's mention of Chichi and his "weakling father". I sighed and remembered some days in the time chamber when Vegeta mocked me a lot by comparing me to Gohan and his own son, and then when I surpassed Trunks he was full of pride for me, and encouraged me to push past Gohan. Well that was one goal that might take a few years, assuming Gohan didn't get any stronger, his new will to train put that on hold.

* * *

After we finished our meal, Gohan led us back to the gym area, but to a different gym room designed for a pep rally. There were wrestling mats laid out on the floor and the benches were stacked up to near the ceiling, pulled out like a stairway of seats. Gohan wanted us to sit near the top, but Vegeta took a seat right up front, as if to call himself the center of attention. The entire school started to pile in, all of them wisely strayed away from Vegeta, so we had a large bubble of empty seats around us. Videl, Erasa and Sharpner all walked in at once, and Videl took a seat right away between me and Gohan, putting me in between her and Vegeta.

"So Gohan, are you going to enter the world martial arts tournament next month?" Videl asked right away. _So that's how far we are now_, I thought as I was starting to forget when that was since I was training all the time.

"There's one next month?" Gohan asked, a little naively.

"Yeah, grand prize is ten million zeni. I bet you could do well, since you are Saiyaman and all," she whispered the last part.

"Bah, she figured that out already? You have gone soft!" Vegeta snorted.

"I don't recall asking you vegetable breath!" Videl shouted at him, hurting my ears.

"Well I suppose I could, if my mother will let me. That money would be good towards college," Gohan scratched his head in thought.

"Tell you what Gohan, I'll keep your secret if you enter, and if you teach me how to fly. Then I will beat you at the tournament. Don't enter or don't teach me, it goes public! Got it? Good!" Videl finished, getting up and moving down towards where Sharpner and Erasa sat.

"She's got you hooked by the throat, good luck on your mating rituals. If you don't know them, I can supply some information," Vegeta said.

"Uh no thanks, really!" Gohan whispered back to Vegeta's smirking form. It was kind of funny to see Gohan squirm like this. Unfortunately our enjoyable moment didn't last for long.

The lights went dark and the outside doors filled up with smoke with strobe lights that suddenly went on. The students and random guests started going crazy when some rock music came on.

"Oh, here comes the coward himself, this should be good!" Vegeta snorted. Then I heard Satan's loud burly voice shouting randomly and he emerged with his victory pose. Behind him came three others, one wearing a white spandex outfit with a red rose on the front. Another larger muscle head with blue on, and finally a rather pretty woman with a red dress to match her hair.

"And he drug his pack of fools with him as well," Vegeta grumbled in disgust.

"All right my faithful fans, are you ready to learn from the master!" Satan asked.

"Yeah!" came the response. Vegeta, Gohan and I flinched slightly at the noise.

"Here's the curriculum from the martial arts champion of the world! First we will start with some basic moves and techniques from punching to breaking dense objects. Then for you that want to try it out for yourselves, you may challenge me one on one. Don't expect me to go easy on you though, ah, Hahahaha!"

"I have to sit here and listen to this garbage before he gives me a real chance at him?" Vegeta snorted, "I have training I could be doing, you can face him though boy, his face needs rearrangement. Maybe I'll do the rest at the tournament!" Vegeta then whispered in my ear, sparking my wild side.

I grinned, "Love to." Gohan looked deathly pale at this, but said nothing as Satan slowly moved through his demonstration. He spent so much time talking about himself that I started falling asleep. Vegeta nudged me when I actually did, pointing out that it was time for any challenges to go on. The area was cleared out except for the wrestling mats, and Satan's students remained with him in the middle of them all.

"All right, is there anyone out there who wants to get a pounding?" Somehow it didn't completely shock me when no hands went up. Vegeta was nudging me again as Satan pointed to apparently a hand that was up, above us. I glanced up to see Sharpner coming down.

"_Oh this could be good,"_ I thought at Gohan. He didn't answer, but seemed roughly relieved. That didn't last.

"Actually Mr. Satan, I wanted to point out that the son of a former world champion is here today. He's right there, Son Gohan, the son of Son Goku!" Gohan's face flushed into panic mode. Satan's face seemed to darken just slightly, but it didn't change anything.

"So young skinny punk think he's got it all like his daddy huh? Come on up here, Son Gohan!"

"There's your chance boy, take your credit back!" Vegeta urged him, "Did you know that on planet Vegita it is customary for a young male to fight the father of his potential mate? Better get up there!" Gohan starred back at him like he was crazy.

"Don't want none of the champ huh kid? Guess your not quite like your father are ya, of course he didn't seem like much either!"

_Uh oh_, I thought just as Vegeta said it. Gohan suddenly went rigid and gave him a glare of the ages. Satan seemed to enjoy the verbal jab he just took at Gohan, though I thought he should have been looking for the nearest exit at this point. I felt Gohan's ki rising sharply, but not quite enough for his aura to show. That didn't stop the sudden gust of wind that made Satan's cape go crazy.

"Don't you ever talk about my father that way!" Gohan said darkly, causing Satan to back down a little. Gohan's sudden demeanor silenced everyone in the large room. I heard crickets chirping as I felt Gohan's energy level go up even more. Then it came crashing down as Videl suddenly appeared next to him.

She put a hand on his shoulder and beckoned him to sit back down, "Just ignore my dad, he says things to get people riled up, you don't have to fight him if you don't want to!" Satan snorted at the fact that his daughter got Gohan to back down, so he scanned around the room for potential. He came back to us quickly and must have noticed Vegeta, because his eyes seemed to light up in surprise.

"I think he recognized me, maybe I will have some fun," Vegeta grinned, shifting a bit to get up.

"You, little kid, you can challenge me can't you? Don't you wanna fight the world champion, come on up, no reason to get scared!" Satan said, pointing straight at me.

"Aw, isn't that kid cute?" I heard a girl shout. _Yeah, it's gonna be real cute. _I cracked my knuckles slightly just as Vegeta started to laugh. _I think I'm going to enjoy this. _I stepped onto the mat as I heard various chatter going across the room, most I didn't recognize, and a select few I did.

"Hope the kid doesn't hurt himself on Hercule's bicep while he gets pounded!"

"Mr. Collins, better get the nurse up here!"

"Like, I think this is gonna get ugly!"

"I wonder if Dad is in over his head this time?"

"Man, I hope he doesn't show any of his power!"

"Muhahahaha!"

"Being the sport that I am, I'll let you fight my two disciple's first! If you can beat both of them at once, you may fight me one on one!"

I blinked slightly, _Okay, any other day a match like this would be outlawed, but an unusual match calls for an upset I guess!_

Ding. Both of the bigger brawlers looked to me to begin.

"_Please don't do anything with your strength, I'm begging you!_" I heard Gohan in my head, and I grinned slightly. I rushed forward at a much slower pace then I could have done, tripping one's left leg and the other's right leg. They crashed into each other with their heads clanging together, knocking each other out. There was now an even quieted hush over the crows. Satan seemed somewhat impressed, of all things. Gohan seemed relieved.

"Well kid, not a bad move for such a small, inexperienced brat. Now you can face the champion of the world!" he said, taking off his white cloak and his championship belt. After some cheers for him, I heard it go quiet again. I waited for his attack this time.

"Well kid, Whatcha waiting for, still a little scared? Understandable considering who you're in front of. If you want to back down now you can!" I rolled my eyes slightly, and then I heard a loud female voice shouting down at me.

"Tear him up kid!"

"Now Videl, you should know that he doesn't stand a chance against an adult! Come on now, cheer for your daddy!" Satan roared. I grinned at her and turned my back on him, showing him that I didn't have any fear. I could see Vegeta's wide grin and Gohan's look of horror.

"You sure are gutsy kid, oh well, you asked for it!" I sensed him throw a punch at my head and I dodged aside without looking. He tried a few kicks toward the middle, same result. "Speedy little devil, I'll slow ya down some though!" He continued his barrage of slow punches and kicks, I kept dodging at a slow rate so to spare Gohan some looks for the day. I stopped when I heard him breathing harder, watching Vegeta's wide smirk as I did. Then his next one was a little harder to predict, I thought he was punching toward my head, in which case I was going to duck down to avoid it, but instead his hand went down toward my rear and grabbed my tail. My grin flashed to a scowl just as Vegeta's did.

"Ha, got you by the belt now! Can't get away from me!" he claimed. I growled, letting the fool have that one warning as he started lifting me into the air by the tail, which had not unraveled yet. What happened next involved several things, all of which were bad for Satan. I back kicked him in the chin very lightly, just enough to get out, and then proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the face, chest, stomach and legs until I felt that I had proven my point. I zipped around at a very fast pace, so likely no human in the room saw me do it. I didn't hit him overly hard, but judging by the dazed and confused look on his face when he dropped to his back, he got the message. Everyone else's reaction was similar, like he had been hit with a jackhammer. His bones and joints all stiffened slightly as he landed, clearly not expecting a freight train to suddenly hit him like that.

I knelt slightly next to him, letting him get a good look at me, "Don't you ever do that again. You touch me, or insult Gohan's father again, I will kill you next time!" I whispered very lightly so only he could here me before proceeding back to the benches. I heard a lot of murmurs coming from the crowd. The odds of them hearing me were nil, so they were all about the fact that I had just downed him without much effort. It was probably a good thing that the guy was a big gorilla with just a tad bit of power, that was all that saved him.

Vegeta had a partial scowl on his face when I returned, "You should have blasted him into nothing, boy."

"He doesn't deserve something so quick, that beating I just gave him should spark a few things to think about!" I replied. Vegeta nodded slightly, getting up and departing the room as the woman in the red dress was attempting to snap Satan out of it. He slowly got up before holding his gut and legs slightly.

He then grinned brightly, "What an attack, yeah you sure beat me kid, way to go!" Then all the cheering started, following by the Satan chants with random chattering.

"Oh, he just let the kid win, what a hero he really is!" I rolled my eyes as the bell rang. Satan was laughing and acting like he was fine, but the bruises all over his face, chest and arms were saying otherwise.

"Well that went off without a hitch, thanks Verto!" Gohan whispered in my ear.

"Like I said, he didn't deserve what I really wanted to give him, so you're welcome, I guess," I said pitifully now that the moron had put me in a bad mood. Videl seemed to have a look of concern when she came down the steps, first for her father, who apparently had a really bad cramp just about everywhere I had hit him, and for me and my sudden temper.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Videl asked, leaning across Gohan, definitely on purpose. Gohan tried not to look at her while I thought up a suggestive response.

"I'll put it this way, does he have life insurance?" I asked her. Videl wasn't sure how to answer that, but before she could, I saw Erasa give her a little shove. She tumbled across Gohan and myself, but luckily I caught her by shoulder before she hit her head on my knee. When she sat up though, everyone in the room suddenly stopped and looked as she was atop of Gohan in an, interesting position. She was off just as quickly, but the rumors had already started.

I grinned as she walked away slowly, "Go for it Gohan!"

"Lay off it for a day would ya?" he growled back.

* * *

Gohan let me fly solo back to West City, as he was going to stick around and see if any crime popped up. When I arrived, Vegeta was waiting impatiently in the lobby.

"About time boy, time for your training!" he snapped and waved me to follow to the gravity room. I found a clean fighting gi waiting for me at the entrance. Trunks was already in there, warming up.

"Okay boys, we're going up to four hundred and fifty today, you weaklings may have to transform to be able to stand it!" Vegeta stated, punching the information into the computer before me and Trunks could even process what was about to happen. Instantly the gravity skyrocketed and I simply dropped to the ground, not ready for the quick change. I bumped up to Super Saiyan though so I could take the severe environment, Trunks followed suit.

"You two can take me on today! We're going until one of you passes out, whichever does stays longer!" Vegeta said, kicking up to Super as well. Trunks and I fought him harder then normal, only because we had to before he would knock us down again. In the end Trunks passed out first, but I stayed as well for the extra training, something I decided I was going to do since the tournament was getting closer. Vegeta was secretly smiling at Trunks and my efforts to train harder with him, even though the four hundred and fifty times gravity was quite nasty and wore us down fast. After five hours, Vegeta finally kicked us out, saying he was tired of seeing us today. That translated into good job, he wasn't that hard to understand. I went upstairs to shower up and change into more comfortable clothes rather then my sweaty gi.

When I came back down, I found Gohan, dressed in his Saiyaman outfit but helmet off. Mom was talking to him about girl's habits when I came in, so he must've been discussing Videl.

"…the only problem is that if I enter they don't allow head protection in the tournament, so I need something else," Gohan said.

"Well let's see what we can come up with to at least hide some of that handsome mug," Mom said, leaving the room for a minute, then coming back with a small white sheet and a pair of sunglasses. She tied the sheet into a bandana around Gohan's head and covered his hair. Slipping the shades on, he looked in the mirror.

"All right, now that's what I call style!" he said, happy with the result, "What do you think Trunks?"

"Yeah its great..." Trunks stopped himself, and dropped the can of juice in his hand.

"Well make sure you like it, because your picture will be plastered everywhere after you win!" Mom said.

"Who said he's going to win?" Vegeta asked from the doorway.

"Well who could possibly beat him?" Mom asked.

"Yours truly, if you'll enter I'll enter. Better keep up your training boy, you'll need it!" Vegeta smirked with a thumb up to his chest.

"Cool Dad and Gohan are gonna fight for real, wow!" Trunks said happily excited at the match that would be.

"_I think I'll enter too_!" A voice said into my head, only everyone in the room looked up, hearing it as well.

"Huh?" Gohan gasped.

"_Gohan_!" the voice said.

"DAD! Is that you!" I hope it is!"

"Kakarot?"

"_Hi son, its great to hear your voice again_!" the voice now identified as Son Goku said.

"Dad! How are you!" Gohan was really excited now.

"_Pretty good for a dead guy. Hey Trunks, you're not being totally honest about Gohan's outfit are you_?" Trunks was totally confused, not that I blamed him either. I stayed quiet, even though I had always wanted to meet the man; I figured I could wait until tournament day. _Aw crap, that means the timeline hasn't changed near as much as I thought it had._

"Dad, are you really coming back to compete?" Gohan asked.

"_Yeah I am! Baba checked it out for me, it appears that I can come back for a whole day because I saved the Earth a few times. I'm excited, tell Chichi that I am coming home for a whole day!_" Goku said happily.

"I will Dad, I'll tell everyone! It'll be great to have you back!" Gohan proclaimed. I glanced over at Vegeta, he held a slight smile on his face.

"Man, Gohan has flipped, huh Dad?" Trunks said.

"No son, his dad is coming back. Even I'm excited Kakarot, at having another chance to defeat you!" Vegeta said, full smirk.

"_Well see, miracles happen ya know_!" Goku responded, obviously into that idea.

"Miracles huh? Oh I can't wait!" Vegeta grinned. I knew what that meant, more training for Trunks and I.

"_It'll be great to see everyone again, I will meet you all there, until then guys!_" Goku said, his voice vanishing into the air.

"Hey Vegeta, since your competing you should wear a disguise, maybe something like mine!" Gohan suggested.

"No way! I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing!" Vegeta shouted.

"You Verto?" Gohan offered.

"Yeah, you can forget that shit," I grumbled.

"You better go tell everyone on the way home Gohan, Krillin will flip!" Mom suggested, but frowning at my choice of words.

"Yeah he will!" Gohan said, giving thumbs up and running out the door, taking flight right away.

**A/n: Not that they really matter, but here ya go.**

**Power levels**

**Videl: 250**

**Verto: 31,000,000, Super Saiyan: 85,000,000**

**Trunks: 28,000,000, Super Saiyan: 79,000,000**

**Gohan: 53,000,000, Super Saiyan: 183,000,000**

**Vegeta: 56,000,000, Super Saiyan: 188,000,000**

**Hercule Satan: 180 (I'm being nice about this one, he is actually pretty tough for a normal human)**


	23. A Hero Returns

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 22: A Hero Returns**

Once news traveled around to the respective Z fighters, Goten called Trunks right away and told him he was gonna train to be in the tournament. That was all Trunks needed for motivation to train as well. I trained like there was no tomorrow, I knew I would need it for after the tournament, if the timeline didn't change from what the TV series was. So far it had been very much on target, except for what had happened with the other universes, not to mention with some of what had occurred in the past few days. Vegeta certainly had no problem with us training with him, gave him something to punch at other than air. I learned that Piccolo, Krillin and Eighteen were all going to enter as well, spicing it up even more so.

Shortly afterward I heard that Videl was mastering flight over at Gohan's house. The hotline of Chichi to Mom sounded that one out since Chichi was now into the idea of getting Gohan and Videl hooked up. I continued training hard with Vegeta, as well as Trunks, giving most of my time to the gravity room. Thirty days passed all too quickly, and while my power level had risen, I knew it would not be enough. Vegeta's level had risen quite sharply as he had sparring partners, and an occasional transformation from me to look at. The secret remained though, Trunks was always too exhausted to stick around for that. On the final day of training, Vegeta kept sparring light so we didn't end up too tired for the next day, when our powers would need to be at their fullest. The Son family plus Ox king met at Capsule corp., Krillin and Eighteen arrived with Master Roshi and Marron, and Yamcha came with Puar and Oolong. Piling into the huge Cargo airboat, Mom flew us straight toward the island where the tournament was to be held.

"I've ridden galactic slugs faster then this blasted thing!" Vegeta whined.

"Oh hush, they won't start without you!" Mom screamed back.

"Hey Vegeta? And you kids too, I think we should all agree not to transform into Super Saiyans during the battles," Gohan suggested.

"What for?" Vegeta snapped.

"Good idea. If you transform, people might recognize you from the Cell games, they would get your names off of the fight list. And there would be reporter's all over my front lawn!" Mom said.

"Yeah, then you see first hand what I deal with all the time!" Gohan said with a smile.

"I don't see the problem. When the press come, I'll just destroy them, again!" Vegeta cracked a smile at the chance to blow up more reporters.

"Behave yourself Vegeta!" Mom said.

"Fine, there will be no Super Saiyan Transformations during the battles, but I'll still have the advantage," Vegeta concluded.

"That's okay with us Dad!" Trunks said, sitting next to Goten and myself.

"That sure is good news for me, maybe this way I'll still have a chance! Fighting a Super Saiyan is like trying to take on a steam roller while tied to the ground!" Krillin exclaimed.

"So when is Goku supposed to show up?" Mom asked.

"He'll show, Kakarot is one to stay true to his word," Vegeta said, scowling again.

"When has Goku ever let us down?" Master Roshi proclaimed.

"Are you going to fight too Yamcha?" Chichi asked.

"No, I'd just embarrass myself, I gave up fighting," he said.

"Wise move," Vegeta snorted from up front.

"Look there it is guys, the island where the tournament is taking place!" Mom said, pointing it out. I looked out the window to catch a glance at the island, and saw the many aircraft also approaching it. Mom guided the airboat down to a safe landing zone and we walked the rest of the way towards the main entrance.

About halfway there, a large mob came up from behind and ran past us.

"Where is he?"

"I saw him first!" a few voices came past.

"Oh look guys, its the man who saved us all from Cell because we were too weak remember!" Krillin joked.

"What a goof!" I said aloud.

"Do they actually believe all that? Mr. Satan," Mom sighed. Over where his plane landed, Satan and Videl stepped out, I could hear him ranting about something and the crowd cheering.

"Old fool hasn't changed much," Krillin said.

"I wonder if he recalls the beating I gave him last month," I said.

"Forget about him, I'd rather track down my dad!" Gohan said.

"I don't sense Goku here, but someone else we know is!" Roshi pointed out. We all spun to see the green man himself.

"It's Mr. Piccolo!" Goten said happily. Gohan made his greeting to Piccolo first, discussing Goku and Gohan's outfit as Saiyaman.

I trotted over to Piccolo next, "Hey kid, good to see you again," he said, smiling a bit.

"You too Piccolo, though I'm kinda nervous to meet Goku. After all that I've heard about him," I said.

"Don't worry about it, he's easy to get along with, just a bit dense," Piccolo said. I turned back to our main party where Chichi was beginning to worry about where Goku was.

"I'll go comb the area!" Krillin said. Just then a huge ki popped up out of nowhere, and right in front of us. There was the legend himself, Son Goku, halo above his head and all. The old witch Baba was floating on her crystal ball directly behind him.

"Hey! I'm back!" he smiled. The gang started to celebrate, though some in their own unique way.

"Dad!" Gohan cheered.

"Kakarot!"

"Goku!" Piccolo said.

"Wow you guys have changed a lot in seven years! Gohan your huge!" Goku said with a bright smile on his face. Krillin seemed to resent that. No one said anything or moved for a few seconds.

"So are you guys just going to stand there?" Goku asked.

"Dad!" "Goku!" Gohan, Puar, Yamcha, Krillin and Oolong all said at once, rushing in and hugging him tight.

"Oh Goku, I've missed you!" Chichi said.

"I've missed you Chichi...huh? I think there's a little me hiding behind your leg Chichi!" Goku said, pointing out the nervous Goten.

"Oh Goten, its okay!" Chichi said.

Goten popped back out and took a few seconds to respond, "Hi...I'm Goten…"

"I'm Goku, your daddy! Hi!" Goku approached.

At first I was wondering if there would be a problem, but instead Goten rushed up to him, "DADDY!" Goku hoisted him up to his shoulder and properly said hello to his second born son. I smiled at the new father son bond that had literally blossomed right in front of me. Goku nodded to Vegeta, who only scowled in response. He waved at Trunks, he didn't know what to do, so he just gave him a nod up with his head. Then he got to me, and was instantly confused. He glanced at both Vegeta and Bulma for a moment, but seemed to dismiss what he might have come up with. With Goten on his shoulder, he walked over to me, confusion rattled his face, and others around were staring at our official meeting.

"Um, who are you?" he asked.

I stuck out my hand with a slight smile, more than likely earning a frown from Vegeta in the process, "Hello Goku, I'm Verto."

**FINAL POWERLEVELS,**** these will be the power levels to begin with at the tournament, again not necessarily used to their maximums.**

**Verto: 40,000,000, Super Saiyan: 100,000,000, transformed: 400,000,000**

**Trunks: 35,000,000, Super Saiyan: 95,000,000**

**Goten: 30,000,000, Super Saiyan: 90,000,000**

**Vegeta: 75,000,000, Super Saiyan: 200,000,000, SS2: 340,000,000**

**Gohan: 68,000,000, Super Saiyan: 190,000,000, SS2: 315,000,000**

**Goku: 78,000,000, Super Saiyan: 215,000,000, SS2: 360,000,000**

**Piccolo: 180,000,000 (max)**

**Krillin: 25,000,000**

**18: 60,000,000**

**Hercule Satan: 185**

**Videl: 315**

**Preview of next Series:**

_The tournament is here, Verto has finally met Goku and prepares himself for the events to come. Then when he meets the Supreme Kai, his memory fails and he no longer remembers what happens. Verto finds himself on the front lines to defend the earth from Babidi and the threat of Majin Buu. Can the young Super Saiyan prevent the destruction of earth, or will he merely delay the inevitable? Find out next time in DBV Series 2: The Buu Ordeal._

**A/N: It will be different compared to the original, especially farther into the story. As with many parts of my story, little things early on mean a lot later on, catch it if you can.**

**And this whole saga has been reloaded for all those damn errors I still had in there, plus the new ones that the powers that be provided. I will be working on the next ones soon.**


End file.
